Canadian navy ships return home from NATO operations in European waters

Ninety sailors from two Canadian navy ships are home after taking part in NATO's Operation Reassurance in European waters.

HMCS Kingston and Summerside left Halifax Harbour in late June.

While overseas, the ships took part in various NATO security exercises including counter-mine missions.

“It’s a really challenging job to find a mine that is below the surface of the water, or on the bottom of the ocean, to actually use the complicated sonar equipment to find it, safely, without setting those mines off,” said Rear Admiral Brian Santarpia, commander of Maritime Forces Atlantic.

“Once you’ve found something that needs further work, to send a team of divers down and actually set a charge on that mine and then exploding the mine – that’s the kind of work that they practiced doing.”

Joyce Kelly, the mother of Petty Officer Patrick Kelly, says it was emotional seeing her son leave in June.

“It’s really hard to see them go and you’re very proud of them and you’re proud to see them come back,” said Kelly, waiting on the docks in Halifax Tuesday.

The men and women on board the two ships sailed to the north Atlantic to the North Sea, and to the Baltic Sea -- all the way east to Lithuania.

While there, sailors took part in a ceremony commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Lithuanian Navy.

Operation Reassurance started in April of 2014 and is intended to “reinforce NATO’s collective defence,” according to the federal government.