"My heart is pounding like the rain today, because I had a very special year, both at the professional and personal level." This is how Rear Admiral Joese De Andrade Bandeira Leandro, the outgoing Brazilian Commander of UNIFIL's Maritime Task Force (MTF) described his feeling as he was passing on his duties to his successor.

On 26 February 2014 Rear Admiral Joese De Andrade Bandeira Leandro handed over the command of UNIFIL's Maritime Task Force to Rear Admiral Walter Eduardo Bombarda aboard the frigate "Liberal" (Brazil) in the presence of Head of Mission and Force Commander Major-General Paolo Serra, representatives from the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), along with diplomats and officers from various UNIFIL's Battalions.

"Since the start of its operations in October 2006, the MTF has hailed nearly 56,000 ships and a total of 4,500 ships were inspected by the Lebanese authorities. At the same time, training activities have continued, marked by excellent cooperation between the MTF and the Lebanese Navy," UNIFIL Force Commander pointed out.

Speaking during the handover, Rear Admiral Leandro reflected on the successes during his tenure, "The twenty percent growth of Beirut seaport activities over the last year shows that the Lebanese waters are becoming a safer passage."

"We had a closely knit cooperation with the Lebanese Army, helping them to improve their training skills and capabilities in order to accomplish the important pillar of UN Security Council resolution 1701," he added, at the same time outlining MTF's dual mandate of patrolling the sea and training the Lebanese Navy.

The outgoing Brazilian Commander thanked all those who contributed to the success of his mission, and to his successor, he said: "Your mission is very significant in the east Mediterranean Sea. I wish you fair winds and following seas!" Speaking after the ceremony, he stressed: "I will leave the mission but not Lebanon; I will come back for sure."

UNIFIL-MTF, the first ever maritime deployment in a UN Peacekeeping Mission, is deployed at the request of the Lebanese Government to assist the Lebanese Navy to help prevent the unauthorized entry of arms or related materiel by sea into Lebanon. MTF has been working jointly with the Lebanese Navy to that end.

The MTF performs a dual mandate of carrying out maritime interdiction operations and providing training to the Lebanese Navy.

UNIFIL-MTF currently comprises naval units from Bangladesh (2 ships), Brazil (1 ship - Flag Ship), Germany (2 ships), Greece (1 ship), Indonesia (1 ship) and Turkey (1 ship).

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Article: Rania Harb
Video Editor: Suzane Badereddine
Video Camera: Mohamad Hamze
Photo: Pascual Gorriz Marcos

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