The grey helicopter is hovering over the helicopter deck of HDMS ESBERN SNARE. A thick dark rope is thrown down and a moment later fire soldiers quickly slide down the rope one by one and down on the ship. This technique that is called fast-roping is a quick method to do boarding – that is to get on board a ship. Today it is soldiers from the Danish Frogman Corps who train fast-roping from one of the British Lynx helicopters which participate in DANEX 08.

It is important to master different boarding techniques since the circumstances can be very varying. Normally a boarding team which wants to board a ship to look for illegal weapons, smuggled goods, etc. will do so by going to the ship by rubber dinghy. But under more critical circumstances – in a hostage situation for example – fast-roping can be a better method.

The Danish Frogman Corps is participating in DANEX 08 to train the concept of using the Danish Navy’s support ships as a platform for the staff that runs the Corps’ operations. It is a challenge for both the ship, ESBERN SNARE, and for the Danish Frogman Corps but it gives lots of good training for both. The Danish Frogman Corps is viewed as part of the ship’s crew which increases capabilities to solve tasks. In other words, with the Danish Frogman Corps on board the commander for a naval force has a more versatile toolbox to do the job.