US Ship with Military Gear for Eastern Europe Arrives in Denmark

By Staff, Agencies

A 200-meter-long US transport ship loaded with military gear has arrived at the Danish port of Aarhus, the nation’s second-largest city, located on the eastern shore of the Jutland Peninsula.

All in all, it carried some 600 pieces of military hardware, including wheeled and tracked armored vehicles slated for transportation to Poland.

The massive US ship was an unprecedented sight for both locals and port authorities.

"We have never experienced receiving a military ship before. This is the first time that we have been chosen as a transit port for the US military. That's why today is something special," Daniel Moller Jensen, press officer for the Port of Aarhus, told local media. "As Denmark's largest commercial port, we have good conditions and infrastructure to handle such large operations," he added.

Aarhus mayor Jacob Bundsgaard, who was also present at the unloading of military hardware, stressed Denmark’s "obligation to take responsibility for its own safety," calling it a "necessary contribution."

The equipment will be used in connection with Operation Atlantic Resolve, which aims to strengthen the US presence in Europe, the Danish Armed Forces informed in a press release. The operation was launched back in 2014 in the aftermath of the escalation of tensions with Russia following the Euromaidan coup in Kiev, which toppled Ukraine’s Russia-leaning government and replaced it with one looking to join the European Union and NATO. The US and the UK took steps to enhance its co-called "deterrence posture" along the eastern flank of NATO, augmenting the air, ground and naval presence in the region, and enhancing previously scheduled exercises. Among others, NATO troops were placed in Poland and the Baltics on a rotary basis.

While it was a first for Aarhus, it is not the first time that the US military has used Danish waters. Last year, a cargo ship loaded with 300 armored military vehicles and other equipment belonging to the US Army docked at the Port of Esbjerg on the western coast of the Jutland Peninsula. That equipment was also sent on to Poland, ostensibly to be used by US soldiers in military drills.