2 naval ships return to Halifax after NATO mine-clearing exercise in Europe

Two naval ships returned to Halifax after four months at sea on Tuesday.

HMCS Kingston and HMCS Summerside, each carrying crews of 46, set sail in June to support NATO in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"They've been doing a very important mission with the NATO standing maritime mine countermeasure group, where they have worked with allies to deepen and perfect their ability to clear mines in the theatre of operations if required," said Rear Admiral Brian Santarpia.

"That's a skill set ... evidently important now as we see the mines that were laid in the Black Sea. So we know that that threat exists, that it can deny ships the ability to operate safely in the area."

Santarpia said both vessels were part of a small group receiving specialized training on finding and disabling underwater mines, explosive devices planted to destroy ships or submarines.

"It's a sort of skill set that takes real practice. We use divers in order to find those mines and we use remote sonar equipment off the ships to actually do it," he said.

During those practices, Santarpia said divers found mines that were laid during the Second World War.

"So off the coast of Europe, there are still mines in the area and our team went and found one off the coast of France where the divers actually went down, set the charge and and detonated a mine," he said.

Karl Toulouse was part of the crowd waiting to welcome back loved ones. He was waiting for his son, Jonathan, and said they planned to celebrate with pizza.

"We're very grateful he's coming back happy and healthy," Toulouse said. "And he's pretty anxious to be home and we're lucky that he's had the opportunity to see Europe on this current deployment."

In early October, the Canadian Armed Forces announced an executive officer on HMCS Kingston was dismissed from her duties on a coastal defence vessel after allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour during a port visit in Portugal.

The Department of National Defence said the incident occurred in late September. The name of the executive officer has not been made public. The allegations have not been tested and as of a month ago, the investigation was still underway.