Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) said goodbye to the frigate Bavaria in Wilhelmshaven on a journey of several months into Indo-Pacific waters.

The frigate with 243 crew members is intended to symbolize support and solidarity for “value partners” such as Japan or Australia, who feel increasingly harassed in the region by China's power, until their planned return at the end of February next year.

Peter Carstens

Political correspondent in Berlin

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With the dispatch of the frigate, Germany wants to symbolize its advocacy for a rule-based world order.

Bavaria is to cross the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal in the next seven months, then after about three weeks it will be in the Horn of Africa.

In Asia, the frigate will reach Japan in early November and will make a longer stop in Tokyo.

This is followed by stations in Vietnam, Korea, Singapore, Australia and possibly others.

Off the Korean peninsula, the frigate takes part in the monitoring of United Nations sanctions against North Korea, at the express invitation of the United States, among others.

China was informed in advance

When passing through the South China Sea on international trade routes, the Navy expects both Chinese escort ships and overflights by the Chinese Air Force, but not provocations or confrontations. The Chinese side was informed in advance by both the Defense Minister and her colleague Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) about the extremely peaceful intentions of the frigate. In addition, Beijing was offered a visit to a Chinese port, apparently with no tangible result until the ship left.

The Chinese Navy has around 50 frigates, including 15 built from 2015 onwards, and China also has around 38 destroyers. For several years now, the German Navy has not had a single destroyer and seven operational frigates, including the Bavarians. Most of the German ships are more than twenty years old; the youngest operational ship is the Hessen frigate, which has been in service since 2006.

The frigate's voyage nonetheless caused trouble, albeit less with China than with the German coalition partners of the Union and the SPD. The Social Democratic parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich Kramp-Karrenbauer had initially accused Kramp-Karrenbauer of a “Wilhelmine view of the world”, a statement that he did not repeat now. Mützenich said, however, that it was appropriate to contradict her publicly. And further: “In a region that is criss-crossed by countless maritime disputes between several actors, we must contribute to moderation by all. It was therefore good that the Foreign Minister informed the countries of the region about our intentions and our position. You do this cautiously and not like Ms. Kramp-Karrenbauer in public speeches that remind you of bad times in Germany. "

Mützenich claimed for the SPD and through the Maas talks: “This also stipulated that the frigate would not sail through the disputed waters in the region.

We Social Democrats will continue to heed the lessons of the past century and not send our country into thoughtless adventures. " 

Kramp-Karrenbauer: A sign of stability

Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Monday, obviously with reference to Mützenich: “It is good to talk about our values, it is even better to do something concrete about them.

Today the frigate Bavaria is sailing towards the Indo-Pacific - a sign of stability, prosperity and a rule-based, multilateral order.

We want existing law to be respected, sea routes to be freely navigable, open societies to be protected and trade to be carried out under fair rules. "

From the point of view of the Ministry of Defense, the deployment of the warship is a "central component in the practical implementation of the Federal Government's strategic guidelines for the Indo-Pacific". However, the sea voyage was planned before the coalition decided on the guidelines, but was postponed due to Corona.

The older F-123 class frigate has been in service since 1996. The ship is rock solid and has been tried and tested in foreign missions. The more modern frigates of the F-125 class, such as the Baden-Württemberg, would be even better suited for a trip to Asia. However, so far none of the four new ships of this type are operational. The frigate Baden-Württemberg was put into service in mid-2019, but has not yet been used due to technical defects. So now the Bavarians are dispatched under their commander, frigate captain Tilo Kalski.