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Briefing: Combating terrorism at sea 1. Active Endeavour Contents 1. Active Endeavour 2. Expanding the mission 3. New operational pattern 4. Participation of NATO Partners 5. Benefits 6. NATO naval operations 7. Proliferation Security Initiative 8. Early measures to combat terrorism Editorial Note   Important publisher and editorial information about this document Other Formats English PDF (~550Kb) Printable version with colour illustrations Order a hardcopy version using the online order form. NATO ships are patrolling throughout the Mediterranean monitoring shipping to help detect, deter, defend, and protect against terrorist activity. "Active Endeavour has proved to be an effective tool in countering terrorism at and from the sea in the Mediterranean" Vice Admiral Roberto Cesaretti, Commander of Operation Active Endeavour This operation, called Active Endeavour, has evolved out of NATO's immediate response to the terrorist attacks against the United States of 11 September 2001. In the intervening years, the operation has developed increasingly effective intelligence-gathering and information-sharing procedures relevant to the wider struggle against international terrorism. "Active Endeavour has proved to be an effective tool in countering terrorism at and from the sea in the Mediterranean," says Vice Admiral Roberto Cesaretti, Commander of Active Endeavour. The operation has also helped NATO gain valuable experience of maritime interdiction operations and more broadly contributed to maintaining peace, stability and security in a strategic region. NATO initially deployed its Standing Naval Forces to the Eastern Mediterranean on 6 October 2001 in a demonstration of Alliance resolve and solidarity. That was a day before the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom, the US-led campaign to oust al Qaida and the Taliban from Afghanistan. The deployment was one of eight measures (see Early measures to combat terrorism) taken by NATO to support the United States in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, following the invocation of Article 5, NATO's collective-defence provision, for the first time in the Alliance's history. Its aim was to provide a deterrent presence and surveillance in strategic international waters at a key moment. The deployment, which was formally named Operation Active Endeavour on 26 October 2001, is commanded by Allied Forces Maritime Component Command HQ Naples (CC-MAR Naples) through the Maritime Operations Centre, and represented a milestone for the Alliance. Together with the dispatch of Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) aircraft to the United States, it was the first time that NATO assets had been deployed in support of an Article 5 operation. Keeping the Mediterranean's busy trade routes open and safe is critical to NATO's security. In terms of energy alone, some 65 per cent of the oil and natural gas consumed in Western Europe pass through the Mediterranean each year, with major pipelines connecting Libya to Italy and Morocco to Spain. For this reason, NATO ships are systematically carrying out preparatory route surveys in "choke" points as well as in important passages and harbours throughout the Mediterranean.

© NATO - OTAN 2006 -	NATO Public Diplomacy Division 1110 Brussels, Belgium - E-mail: natodoc@hq.nato.int