German frigate Bayern off the Lebanese coast. "Bayern" rescued 14 crew members. On 18 July 2011 "Bayern" left Wilhelmshaven to join Operation Atalanta, the anti-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa. She arrived on station on 13 August, with Thomas Jugel taking over command of the taskforce, with "Bayern" as his flagship. "Bayern" was deployed in support of the operation until 6 December, and then returned to Wilhelmshaven, arriving on 22 December 2011. Her next deployment was as flagship of Thorsten Kähler, commander of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2. This lasted until 1 June 2012, after which she took part in exercises, and
Central German Metropolitan Region still declining. The region is located at historically and presently important trade corridors in central Europe. The routes of several highways of the International E-road network as well as two major German expressways (A9 Munich-Berlin and A14 Dresden-Wismar) are running through it. Leipzig-Halle is a major railway hub along the Berlin–Palermo railway axis which is part of the Trans-European high-speed rail network. Other railway main lines connect it with Dresden, Frankfurt, Frankfurt Airport or Prague. Leipzig-Halle airport serves as the main airport of the region. It is the second largest fright airport in Germany and a hub of DHL express