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The Anzac Class frigate has joined international efforts to enforce sanctions on North Korea.
Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Ballarat has joined Operation Argos — Australia’s contribution to international efforts to monitor and deter illegal shipments of sanctioned goods to North Korea, as part of United Nations’ Security Council Resolution 2397
Chief of Joint Operations, Lieutenant General Greg Bilton said Operation Argos was a demonstration of Australia’s commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and a global rules-based order.
“Australia is committed to the stability and security of our region and will continue to support sanctions on North Korea until it takes concrete steps towards denuclearisation,” LTGEN Bilton said.
“HMAS Ballarat will contribute to a multinational force including Canada, France, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, to monitor and deter illegal ship-to-ship transfers of sanctioned goods.”
This marks the ADF’s second contribution to the operation in 2021, following the successful deployment of a Royal Australian Air Force P-8A Poseidon aircraft earlier this year.
The Royal Australian Navy has deployed five vessels in total since the operation commenced in 2018, with HMAS Ballarat’s deployment following HMAS Arunta in November 2020.
Maritime patrol aircraft have also been deployed on eight occasions.
This latest deployment is part of Ballarat’s two-month regional presence deployment throughout south-east and north-east Asia.
[Related: RAN joins allies in multi-domain exercise]
Charbel Kadib
News Editor – Defence and Security, Momentum Media
Prior to joining the defence and aerospace team in 2020, Charbel was news editor of The Adviser and Mortgage Business, where he covered developments in the banking and financial services sector for three years. Charbel has a keen interest in geopolitics and international relations, graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a double major in politics and journalism. Charbel has also completed internships with The Australian Department of Communications and the Arts and public relations agency Fifty Acres.
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