#navalvisits- A Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Montréal made a morning arrival to Dublin Port yesterday having taken part in a major UK led exercise involving a large NATO fleet off Scotland last week, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The call of the 1994 'Halifax' class frigate follows Friday's visit to Ireland of Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, to the Marine Institute headquarters in Oranmore, Co. Galway. Among the topics the minister discussed was climate change and collaborations under the Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance.

Only days later, due to the severity of Storm Ophelia, the Marine Institute decided to close the headquarters as the Red weather status storm swept across the country.

In advance of Ophelia and the Irish call, HMCS Montréal completed the exercise off Scotland and visited Glasgow from where also the Spanish frigate Álvaro de Bazán paid a call.

As Afloat previously reported, foreign naval calls to Irish ports can be very fluid including cancellation due to 'operational reasons' and this may apply to the frigate. An Italian Navy frigate however may instead be the next visitor on the Dublin Bay horizon, in the form of the FREMM class frigate ITS Luigi Rizzo.

Returning to the HMCS Montréal, the 134m Halifax class frigate role is for multi-role operations in that they are anti-submarine/aircraft and ship. Among the weapons systems are Sea-Sparrow SAM missiles. The 5,000 tonnes deep load frigate built by Canadian yard St. John Shipbuilding was commissioned into service in 1994 and has a crew complment of 225 that includes an air-wing.

Prior to the arrival of the Canadian visitor, the Irish Naval Service OPV90 class L.E. James Joyce was already docked in Dublin having sailed from Killybegs. During storm Ophelia,the OPV remained berthed at the Deepwater Quay along the south quays. This berth allocation for the Irish Navy is a first in terms of reporting on Afloat and previously other marine media.

It was within an hour's arrival of HMCS Montréal that the second of the OPV90 class sisters shifted berths in Dublin which involved L.E. James Joyce pass the visiting naval frigate. The move of berths led to the Naval Service vessel make a transit through the Tom Clarke toll-lift bridge to an upriver berth alongside Sir John Rogersons Quay.