Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Winnipeg returned to its homeport in Esquimalt, British Columbia, on December 16, completing a four-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific.
The operation ‘Projection’ saw the frigate support several Canadian international objectives. These included operation Neon, Canada’s contribution to the coordinated multinational effort to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council sanctions imposed against North Korea.
A CP-140 Aurora air detachment, which was deployed with HMCS Winnipeg in support to North Korean sanctions monitoring through operation Neon, has also returned to Canada. The detachment has been based at the Kadena Air Base in Japan since October of this year.
Winnipeg also took part in the bilateral KAEDEX exercise with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Japanese Ship Jintsū in the East China Sea, carried out exercises with the UK-led multinational HMS Queen Elizabeth carrier strike group in the Philippine and South China Seas, and completed maneuvers in company with Australian ships HMAS Brisbane and Waramunga.
Together with warships from Australia, Germany, Japan and the United States, the frigate also participated in Annualex, a 10-day US and Japanese bilateral exercise in the Philippine Sea.
Over the four months, HMCS Winnipeg made port calls in Okinawa, Japan, Busan, South Korea, and Manila, Philippines.
HMCS Winnipeg returned to port today, in time for her crew to celebrate the holiday season with their families.
!Canada’s prosperity and security depends on its relationships with partners and allies around the world, including in the Indo-Pacific. Our nation is committed to strengthening these relationships in the Indo-Pacific region, in ways both big and small,” Anita Anand, Canadian Minister of National Defence, commented.
“The sailors of HMCS Winnipeg have been tremendous ambassadors for Canada and I thank them for their outstanding professionalism, dedication and service. Over the past several months, they have worked tirelessly to promote and enhance interoperability alongside the navies of our closest allies and trusted international partners and they have directly contributed to regional security and stability in the important Indo-Pacific region,” General Wayne Eyre, Chief of the Defence Staff, added.
