The Portuguese Frigate NRP Álvares Cabral joined the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia – Operation Atalanta on 6 April 2013, in Djibouti.
During her participation in Operation Atalanta, for the next 4 months, Álvares Cabral will be the EU Naval Force flagship, hosting the Force Commander and his multinational staff on board.
NRP Álvares Cabral is a multipurpose MEKO class frigate, 116 meters in length and 3400 tonnes displacement. Among other missions, she had in the past 2 deployments in the Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1), 5 in the Standing Naval Force North Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT) and 2 in the European Maritime Force (EUROMARFOR).
Speaking about the preparations for joining the Operation, the Commanding Officer, Captain Nuno Sobral Domingues, said: “After a long and demanding period of training and certification, we´re ready to conduct a wide spectrum of naval operations as a national contribution for the stability and security off the coast of Somalia. The crew is well prepared and all the systems are fully operational and ready to deployment”.
Before joining the EU Naval Force, NRP Álvares Cabral went through an intense training program, including the Portuguese Navy Basic Training, the Operational Sea Training in Plymouth – United Kingdom, and finally the Portuguese Training for Counter-Piracy Deployment.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, April 8, 2013; Image: EU Navfor