On 10 November FS SURCOUF finished her deployment as an EU NAVFOR warship after 94 days of valuable contribution under the stars of European Flag.
During this period the French frigate guarded three ships of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on passage between Mombasa and Mogadishu and two vessels of the World Food Program (WFP) with more than 73.000 metric tons of food aid into Somalia. She has also conducted a variety of further tasks in the force and has always been ready for any duties and demonstrated a “comme il faut” attitude to face all challenges in order to achieve the objectives of EU NAVFOR Operation ATALANTA.
In his farewell signal to the French frigate the EU NAVFOR Force Commander Rear Admiral Thomas E.P. Jugel said: ”Let me thank you for you for your everlasting professionalism, flexibility and eagerness in supporting and fostering our common message.”
EU NAVFOR Somalia operates in the area of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean and is responsible for the protection of ships carrying food-aid for the people of Somalia by WFP and vessels of AMISOM providing logistic support for the troops supporting the Transitional Federal Government. Additionally, EU NAVFOR monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia.
[mappress] Source: eunavfor, November 11, 2011