Italian Navy’s Maestrale-class frigate ITS Espero has joined the EU’s counter piracy mission off the coast of Somalia. ITS Espero was welcomed to the counter-piracy task force on Saturday, March 25. Led by Commander Luigi Pirozzi, ITS Espero’s sailors and marines prepared for their mission with oper
Spanish Navy’s offshore patrol vessel Relámpago returned home on March 16, concluding a six-month deployment to operation Atalanta, a EU-led counter-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia. The crew sailed over 28,000 nautical miles, and has conducted over 50 approaches, greeting Somali fishermen an
Somali pirates on Thursday released the fuel tanker Aris 13 and its crew, the EU Naval Force (Somalia) confirmed. The crew were set free with no injuries after being held hostage for four days. This was also confirmed by the director general of the maritime police force of Somalia’s Puntland region,
For the first time since 2012, Somali pirates hijacked a tanker on March 13 off the coast of Somalia, the EU Naval Force counter-piracy operation has confirmed. The authorities said they received positive confirmation from the master of the Comoros-flagged tanker, Aris 13, that his ship and crew are
European and Chinese counter-piracy task group commanders met in the Gulf of Aden during their regular patrols. The force commander of the European Union’s operation Atalanta, Spanish Navy Rear Admiral Rafael Fernández-Pintado Muñoz-Rojas, welcomed Rear Admiral Zhao Jicheng, commander of the Chinese
Republic of Korea Navy destroyer Choi Young officially joined operation Atalanta welcoming aboard the operation’s Force Commander, Rear Admiral Rafael Fernández-Pintado Muñoz-Rojas during a joint counter-piracy patrol off the coast of Somalia. The Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin-class destroyer joined EU NAV
Spanish Navy offshore patrol vessel Vigía set sail from Cadiz to conduct a series of activities in Africa as part of the Spanish government’s Defense Diplomacy Plan and a follow-on of the Africa Partnership Station (APS) initiative. These deployments are intended to enhance maritime security and to
Spanish Navy Rear Admiral Rafael Fernández-Pintado Muñoz-Rojas assumed the role of force commander of the European Union’s counter-piracy operation Atalanta off the Horn of Africa. Rojas assumed command on board his flagship, ESPS Galicia, during a ceremony held in Djibouti on Friday. Djibouti is a
Republic of Korea Navy destroyer ROKS Choi Young will be joining operation Atalanta, an EU-led counter-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia, in March this year. The Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin-class destroyer will work with EU NAVFOR warships to prevent acts of piracy that plagued the waters off the c
The crew of Spanish Navy’s offshore patrol vessel ESPS Relampago took part in a range of maritime training exercises with the Seychelles Maritime Police, Coastguard and Air force during their visit to the Seychelles. The first day of training focused on briefings about search and rescue (SAR) proced
Maritime law and operations training that EU and Libyan Navy and Coast Guard started in October 2016 entered the second phase on January 30, EUNAVFOR announced. Delivered by EUNAVFOR’s Mediterranean Sea mission called operation called Sophia, the training will continue in a maritime training centre
Maritime forces from three continents are set to begin the sixth iteration of the annual multinational maritime exercise Cutlass Express on January 31. Units from East Africa, West Indian Ocean nations, Europe, and the United States, as well as several international organizations will converge for n
Members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) who recently joined operation Artemis to lead Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 with their Australian colleagues completed their first focused operation just days after arriving in Bahrain and taking command. Operation Queenston, which took place from December
The commander of Spanish Navy’s offshore patrol vessel ESPS Relampago welcomed EU member state ambassadors aboard during a port call in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Ambassadors from Denmark, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands were welcomed by Lieutenant Commander Francisco Garcia Flores on Januar
