On Tuesday 1 October 2013, Italian warship ITS Zeffiro conducted a Friendly Approach with a Yemeni dhow in the waters of the Gulf of Aden.
ITS Zeffiro sent a Djiboutian linguist with the warship’s security team to the dhow in order to investigate the nature of the crew’s activities.
The security team ascertained that the dhow was transporting fuel and after a short time the Yemini dhow was able to continue its journey.
The monitoring of small boat activities is one of ITS Zeffiro’s tasks, as part of the EU Naval Force counter piracy operation, Atalanta. Operation Atalanta commenced in December 2008, and, together with other naval forces, has helped to make the seas safer from pirate attack.
[mappress] Press Release, October 04, 2013; Image: EU Navfor