Under the cover of darkness a large number of soldiers from the Danish Frogman Corps raided a ruined city where pirates had held five Danish hostages for about a week. The hostage-takers took up the fight but were quickly neutralized by the naval special operations force. Shortly after one hostage was freed and on the way back to safety, escorted by the frogmen.

This situation unfolded on the night between Friday and Saturday during the multinational naval exercise DANEX 08.

– The scenario during exercise DANEX 08 is by no means unrealistic in these times, says the commanding officer for the Danish Frogman Corps, Commander s.g. Mogens Christens, and continues – The exercise is a good opportunity to test the ongoing capacity building which is decided in the current defence agreement. Amongst other things we will train a joint activation using a support ship and working in the framework of a larger naval force.

In advance of the hostage relief operation a prolonged period of preparation has passed on board the support ship ESBERN SNARE. Here a Special Operations Task Group (SOTG) consisting of the Danish Frogman Corps and supporting units has planned the operation carefully.

A number of patrols from the Danish Frogman Corps and the Danish Home Guard’s Special Support and Recce Company where inserted from the seaside under the cover of darkness and observed a number of targets on land for a longer period in time. The information from the patrols indicated that the hostages were in danger of being executed and it was decided to activate offensive forces from the Danish Frogman Corps to free the hostages.

The script for the exercise would however have it in such a way that four of the five hostages were moved shortly before the relief operation. The pirates are now together with the remaining hostages back on the seized ship.

Somewhere in Kattegat the Danish Frogman Corps and a fairly large number of Danish and foreign naval ships are now preparing the liberation of the hostages and the seized ship. Before long a new relief operation will be initiated, this time at sea: the right element for the Danish Frogman Corps.