NATO’s top sailor, Admiral Clive Johnstone, looks back at a year of challenges and success at sea and looks forward to what 2017 could hold for maritime forces.

He believes that NATO has learned much in the maritime space during 2016, thanks to experiences in the Aegean Sea countering the illegal trafficking of migrants and the end of one the longest-running maritime operations, counter-piracy operation, Ocean Shield.

He also looks forward to new operation Sea Guardian and possible challenges in 2017, including an increase in the number of refugees and a contested space in the Mediterranean with the continuous presence of Russia.