The Royal and South African Navies will gather in February next year to commemorate the sinking of South African troopship SS Mendi. After it was rammed in fog off the Isle of Wight on February 21 1917, SS Mendi took 616 South Africans down with her. To mark the 100th anniversary of the tragedy, the
Spanish Navy’s offshore patrol vessel ESPS Serviola returned to her home port in Ferrol, Spain, after taking part in different cooperation activities in West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea. The cooperative security activities with regional navies are organized by the Spanish Ministry of Defense and t
Sailors and ships deployed to EUNAVFOR’s counter piracy operation off the Horn of Africa have bid farewell to the Dutch frigate and operation Atalanta flagship, HNLMS Tromp, as she concluded her deployment and headed for the Dutch port of Den Helder. The De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate started her
The Royal Netherlands Navy frigate and current flagship of the EU mission off the Horn of Africa, became the first operation Atalanta warship to dock in either Somalia or Somaliland as the ship came alongside Berbera Port on Sunday, December 4. Onboard were EUCAP Nestor’s head of operations, Chris R
The European Council extended operation Atalanta’s mandate to deter, disrupt and repress acts of piracy off the coast of Somalia until 31 December 2018. Operation Atalanta’s two-year mandate extension comes amidst concerns within European Union member states that whilst pirate attacks on merchant sh
A detachment of 20 Royal Danish Air Force officers and enlisted service members took flight in their aircraft from the Seychelles one last time on November 19 marking the end of their deployment. The Royal Danish Air Force Challenger CL-604 was deployed to NATO standing Operation Ocean Shield. The D
Ships from NATO’s Mine Countermeasures Group Two (SNMCMG2) completed a port visit to Algiers, Algeria on October 20. The crews of the ships participated in multiple activities ashore and after getting underway on Thursday, all four NATO ships participated in drills with Algerian naval forces to prac
Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate HMS Portland is currently in Simonstown, South Africa, where the crew started their month-long break during a nine-month deployment. After adding 18,000 miles to her odometer in a patrol which has taken the frigate from Plymouth, through the Mediterranean, Suez and Strai
French Navy’s stealth frigate La Fayette was recently welcomed into the port of Mombasa, Kenya in what was the first visit of an EU Naval Force ship to the Kenyan port in over a year. FS La Fayette is currently deployed to Operation Atalanta contributing to counter-piracy activities off the Horn of
Spanish Navy offshore patrol vessel (OPV) Serviola set sail from Ferrol to conduct a series of activities with African navies as part of the Defense Diplomacy Plan and a follow-on of the Africa Partnership Station (APS) initiative. These deployments are intended to enhance maritime security and coop
German Navy minehunter FGS Datteln rescued 133 migrants 75 kilometers north-west of Tripoli, Libya on August 1. The ship was initially tasked by the Force Headquarters to neutralize two empty rubber boats. While doing so, the ship’s crew spotted an overcrowded rubber boat in the vicinity. Upon rescu
Spanish Navy frigate ESPS Santa Maria recently enjoyed a break from her counter-piracy patrolling under Operation Atalanta and had five days alongside in Port Victoria, the capital of the Seychelles, on Mahe Island. Whilst there, the crew of ESPS Santa Maria took the opportunity to conduct training
After taking part in the advanced multinational mine countermeasures (MCM) exercise Spanish Minex-16, minehunter Duero (M-35) integrated into the European Maritime Force (EUROMARFOR) to take part in the Italian Minex-16 and the maritime security exercise MCE-16 in Tunisian waters. The Spanish M-35,
Ships from the People’s Liberation Army Navy 22nd Escort Task Group came alongside in Simon’s Town, South Africa for a formal visit from May 16-20, 2016. The visiting group was constituted by Luhu-class destroyer Qingdao, Jiangkai II-class frigate, Daqing and the Taihu replenishment ship, Taihu. The
