HDMS Absalon (F341) and her sister ship Esbern Snare are the two members of the Absalon class. The lead ship of the class is named after Danish archbishop and statesman Absalon and received full operational status in 2007.

Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150) is a multinational coalition naval task force working under the 34-nation coalition of Combined Maritime Forces and is based in Bahrain established to monitor, board, inspect, and stop suspect shipping to pursue the "War on Terror" and in the Horn of Africa region (HOA) includes operations in the North Arabia Sea to support operations in the Indian Ocean. These activities are referred to as Maritime Security Operations (MSO).