The V&A Waterfront is swarming with sailors after a foreign invasion by a naval task force of six warships.

Huge grey walls of steel bristling with the latest naval weaponry and state-of-the-art electronic gadgetry yesterday arrived at the Tavern of the Seas to allow more than a thousand sailors to step ashore for some rest and relaxation after a lengthy voyage that began on July 28 in Europe.

The Standing Nato Maritime Group 1, a powerful arm of Nato's

naval forces, is cruising the African coast on a mission to learn how to operate outside its traditional theatre.

Fortunately - especially for the tenants of the Waterfront malls - the sailors have not come to spend ammunition, but dollars and euros, as they prepare to storm the many shops, eateries and funspots to get a break from life aboard ship.

With the huge American cruiser USS Normandy as flagship, the task force includes the German tanker FGS Spessart and the frigates HNLMS Evertsen of Holland, HDMS Olfert Fischer of Denmark, NRP Alvaras Cabral from Spain and HMCS Toronto from Canada.

The ships, to be open to the public for visits on Saturday and Sunday between 10am and 3pm, will leave port again on Monday for a series of exercises with ships and submarines of the South African Navy, before continuing up the east coast.

The purpose of the task force's deployment was to expand Nato's field of operations and to learn about littoral and coastal conditions outside the organisation's traditional field of operations, said task force commander Rear Admiral Michael K Mahon.

During a brief interview yesterday, Admiral Mahon said the end of the Cold War in the late 80s and changes in the international security situation had made the organisation take a fresh look at its role.

A decision had been made that Nato should begin to operate at greater strategic distances. The deployment of this task force was the first of a Nato maritime group in response to this new strategy.

"Our mission is to improve our collective understanding of conditions in African waters and along the African coast, and our imminent exercise with the South African Navy will contribute to that," he said.

Admiral Mahon said the task force would test its anti-submarine, anti-aircraft and anti-surface proficiencies during the exercise and at the same time provide a test for the South African Navy to measure its own abilities.

With acknowledgement to Henri Du Plessis and Cape Argus.