US ambassador underscores maritime cooperation
The US Embassy is “working to build bridges with all of Greece’s relevant ministries to develop interagency cooperation and shared security,” the American ambassador to Greece, Geoffrey Pyatt, said on Wednesday.
“If we are routinely and robustly communicating at all levels of government, we are better prepared to respond to maritime threats when they emerge,” he said in comments at the port of Piraeus, during a visit with Greek Shipping and Island Affairs Minister Yiannis Plakiotakis to welcome two US Coast Guard fast response cutters that stopped in Greece en route to Bahrain where they will operate with the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.
The Robert Goldman and Charles Moulthrope also took part in combined exercises with the Hellenic Coast Guard earlier in the week, highlighting the “strong tradition of US-Greece maritime collaboration,” Pyatt said.
“This deployment demonstrates how the US is strengthening national security by extending the US Coast Guard’s global reach, and reaffirming our commitment to each other as NATO Allies,” he added.
“The interoperability exercises conducted this week in the Aegean Sea between the USCGC Hamilton and Sixth Fleet help build and demonstrate all-domain naval power. US Coast Guard operations in the Mediterranean and in the Aegean show how far we have come in integrating capabilities across the United States’ maritime services with Allied and partner nations like Greece to jointly address shared security concerns,” the American ambassador added.
