HMAS Ballarat returned to Fleet Base West at Garden Island, Western Australia from maritime security operations in the Middle East on Sunday 14 July.
Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Jonathon Mead, AM, RAN joined family and friends to welcome the ship's company of 190 personnel home from their nine-month deployment to Operation MANITOU.
The warship also seized and destroyed nearly half a million rounds of small arms ammunition and 697 bags of chemical fertiliser, which had potential use in the manufacture of improvised explosives.
Ballarat’s illicit drug seizures included approximately 19.76 tonnes of hashish, 1.41 tonnes of heroin and 50 kilograms of methamphetamine and amphetamine.
