On Saturday 22 August, ESPS Galicia rendezvoused with ARC 7 De Agosto off the coast of Somalia as part of the Colombian warship’s collaboration with Operation Atalanta. Whilst carrying out a replenishment at sea (RAS) of stores and food, the EU Force Commander, Rear Admiral Alfonso Fernández Gómez d
Standing NATO Maritime Group TWO (SNMG2) arrived in Tunis on Friday, August 21. The force composed of four ships from three nations is currently deployed to the Mediterranean Sea to enhance maritime security and to show NATO’s presence in the area. The port visit to Tunis is part of a series of rout
Sailors from Italian Navy warship, ITS Libeccio, which is currently deployed in the Indian Ocean as part of the European Union’s counter-piracy Operation Atalanta, have provided much-needed food and water to twenty four stranded seafarers. With help from the local community, the seafarers had taken
Maritime professionals from South and East Africa, Europe, Indian Ocean nations and the U.S. met for the Cutlass Express 2016 Main Planning Event (MPE) in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania Aug. 4 – 7. The four-day planning event aimed to further develop exercise scenarios for partner nations, participant forc
Navies operating with Combined Task Force 151 conducted a coordinated operation to save a merchant mariner who was taken ill at sea. Ships from Japan and Korea coordinated the rescue mission in the Gulf of Aden to evacuate the mariner to Djibouti for urgent medical care. Republic of Korea Ship (ROKS
The Spanish Navy’s auxiliary oiler replenishment ship (AOR) ‘Cantabria’, currently deployed in the Mediterranean Sea on maritime security tasks, paid a visit to an Egyptian fishing boat sailing off the northern coast of Libya. After detecting and monitoring the boat, with 16 sailors on board, the ‘C
On Saturday 8th August 2015, Colombian warship, ARC 7 de Agosto, arrived in the Gulf of Aden to start her counter-piracy operations in close collaboration with Operation Atalanta. Commanded by Captain Darwin Alberto Alonso Torres, ARC 7 de Agosto has a Spanish Navy liaison team on board to help co-o
Combined Task Force (CTF) 151 has conducted a joint operation with partners from across the international community, both military and non-military, aimed at encouraging the maritime community to work together to promote legitimate trade and fair use of the sea in the Horn of Africa region. The oper
Indian Navy’s warship INS Trikand is conducting a port visit to Djibouti. The vessel entered the port on August 10 and is scheduled to stay until August 13. Since November 2008, the port has been frequented by warships of the Indian Navy for operational tasking during anti-piracy escort missions bei
Spanish Navy’s offshore patrol vessel Meteoro, homeported in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, is on its way to join the counter-piracy Operation Atalanta in the Indian Ocean. This deployment is part of the Spanish commitment with this EU mission which started back in 2008 to fight piracy in the Gulf of A
UK to Upgrade Its Type 23 Frigates The UK MOD has awarded contracts worth £80 million to upgrade the backbone of the Royal Navy surface flotilla, the Type 23 Frigates. Australia to Invest Big in Its Surface Fleet The Australian Government announced a long-term investment of over $89 billion in ships
On Monday 27 July 2015, EU Naval Force flagship, ESPS Galicia, escorted a World Food Programme (WFP) vessel, Liberty Glory, along the Somali coast to protect it from any potential pirate attack. ESPS Galicia escorted Liberty Glory from Djibouti to the port of Berbera in Somalia. The journey covered
On 25 July 2015, staff from Operation Atalanta Force Headquarters visited the Japanese Detachment of Combined Task Force (CTF) 151 in Djibouti. Led by the Force HQ Chief of Staff, Captain Jens Nykvist, the meeting was hosted by Captain Masahisa Motomura, Commanding Officer of the Deployment Air-Forc
On Saturday 25th of July 2015, EU Naval Force Commander, Rear Admiral Alfonso Gomez Fernando de Cordoba, welcomed the Chief of the Djiboutian Navy, Colonel Abdourahman Aden Cher, on board Operation Atalanta flagship, ESPS Galicia. The visit included a guided tour of the Spanish warship, followed by