The Swedish Coast Guard MPRA aircraft left the Seychelles on 15 February 2013 after a productive four month deployment to the Seychelles as part of EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia – Operation Atalanta.
The Swedish coastguard Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft, joined the operation in October 2012 and left the operation on 15 February 2013. The MPRA conduct vital surveillance operations as part of the counter-piracy effort in the region. The officer in charge of the Swedish coastguard team commented:
“The participation of the MPRA team in Operation Atalanta has been a great success for EU NAVFOR and the Swedish Coast Guard (Swe CG). The Swe CG is a civilian authority and it’s a bit special to work under military command, but thanks to good co-operation with the Swedish Air Force (who have supported the MPRA team with a liaison officer) it has worked very well. We are happy to see that the piracy has decreased so much. That gives a good hope for the future.”
The departure of the Swedish team has been followed with the deployment of 2 Luxembourg MPRAs to the Seychelles, providing continuous surveillance capabilities to the EU Naval Force.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, February 19, 2013; Image: EU Navfor