On Saturday 1 December, an EU Naval Force Autonomous Vessel Protection Detachment (AVPD) handover ceremony was held in Djibouti between Lithuanian and Serbian Forces in Djibouti.
Members of the Lithuanian Forces have spent the past four months embarked in the World Food Programme (WFP) aid ship, MV Caroline Scan, providing protection from pirate attack as the ship sailed close to the Somali coast.
Members of the Serbian Forces will now be embarked in MV Caroline Scan for four months.
Since the European Union Naval Force began providing protection to WFP ships, none have been attacked by pirates and over 730,000 metric tonnes of much-needed food aid has been safely delivered to the Somali people.
The AVPD handover ceremony was attended by Brigidier General Vilmantas Tamosaitis (Lithuanian Forces), Brigadier General Ilija Todorov (Serbian Forces) and WFP representative, Mr Jacques Higgins.
[mappress] Press Release, December 04, 2013; Image: EU Navfor