Homecoming ceremony for “Andrija Mohorovičić”

The crew was welcomed by family members, the Defence Minister Ante Kotromanović, the Director of th General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, Rear Admiral  Robert Hranjas as Envoy of the Chief of the General Staff, the Croatian Navy Commander, Commodore Predrag Stipanović, other senior officials of the Croatian Armed Forces as well as by the Assistant Minister of the Interior, Vladimir Nemec.

The Ship’screw of 54 (49 members of the Croatian Armed Forces and five members of the Border Police) completed its three-month deployment in the Operation Triton assisting  FRONTEX on 30 October 2015, during which they rescued over 2,500 migrants. The Commander of the Croatian Contingent was Lieutenant Commander Vlado Zoko, while the Ship itself was Commanded by Lieutenant  Stjepan Giljević.
The Ship patrolled along the outer border of the zone 200 nm off the Sicilian coast in the Ionian Sea, rescuing the migrants arriving from SE Libia and the Middle East.

Upon the detection of the position of the vessels with the migrants signalled from the Operation Headquarters the Ship headed towards the spot and launched rescue operation. The rescued mirants were provided care aboard the Ship and transported to the port of debarcation, where they were taken care of by the respective services in charge.

Having officially welcomed the crew back the Defence Minister expressed the satisfaction over the remarkable service in the Operation demonstrating Croatia as a well-organised country capable of managing the risks in the national territory and in the Mediterranean. Croatian Armed Forces are manned by highly competent officers who can carry out any task and who prove military efficiency combined with enviable humanity, the Navy personnel here and the Army personnel handling the migrants along the land routes. I’ve heard the commendations from the Operation’s leaders. The participation in the Operation Triton is a valuable experience for the Croatian Navy and the Armed Forces and a major incentive to increase the investment into Navy’s capabilities“, said Minister Kotromanović.

The Minister took the opportunity to congratulate the members of the Ministry of the Interior and of the Croatian Army on the organisation of the camp for the migrants in Slavonski Brod „offering the  best conditions at the regional level for the reception of migrants in an incident-free environment“.

The Commander of the Croatian Navy, Commodore Predrag Stipanović said during the three-month deployment a large number of people (among whom elderly people and children) were rescued, testifying to the professionalism and the ability of the mission conduct.

“I asked the crew on their departure to act as professionals but foremostly as humans, the last ray of hope to the migrants and to assist them in the best possible way. We may be soldiers, Navy officers and professionals but the situations of the kind it was humanity that counted”, said Cdre Stipanović. 
The Assistant Minister of the Interior, Vladimir Nemec stated the Croatian policemen, operating together with the Croatian military, the medical teams, the Red Cross and numerous volonteers successfully handled the dramatic flow of migrants (more than 320,000 persons) demonstrating high professionalism and humanity”.

Asked to describe the difficult situations during the deployment the Commander of the 1st Croatian Contingent to Operation Triton 2015,  Lieutenant Commander recalled the episode of rescuing over 300 migrants, when one family got separated and the crew had aboard two children without parents to look after; however professional we are human beings foremostly and we were shaken with the experience”, said Lt.Cdr. Zoko.

Commander Stjepan Giljević expressed the pride over the crew under his command. “It was all but easy to endure saving people” lives for three months, risking their own ones. The crew often rescued the migrants moved to tears, it was emotionally charged mission. The migrants were in the state of shock, dehydrated, with exhausted food and water supplies and in need of medical assistance”, said the Commander, who stressed that the crew was willing to take part in the humanitarian mission again.
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