German Navy’s Rhön-class tanker FGS Spessart has left the EU Naval Force and Operation Atalanta fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia. The ship spent eighty eight days and sailed over 13,600 nautical miles after leaving Wilhelmshaven navy base on April 18. The EU naval task force is deployed to t
The Pakistan Navy has taken command of Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) after conducting a handover ceremony with the Royal Navy. Commodore Bilal Abdul Nasir of the Pakistan Navy assumed command of CTF150 from Commodore Guy Robinson of the Royal Navy on August 4 in
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
On Tuesday, 26th of July 2016, the Spanish Orion Air Contingent XXV, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Rafael Saiz Quevedo, completed a successful four month deployment with Operation Atalanta off the coast of Somalia. Detachment XXVI will be commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Juan Ferrero. The handover
Spanish frigate ESPS Reina Sofia and British survey vessel HMS Ocean saved 719 lives on July 19, thereby bringing the number of migrants saved by operation Sophia vessels in the Mediterranean Sea to over 20,000 since the mission started in June 2015. The latest rescue operations started after severa
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
European naval units on Saturday apprehended three persons off the coast of Libya suspected of organizing migrant crossings in the Mediterranean Sea. In an Operation Sophia action which took place in the morning hours of July 9, German tender Werra was assisted by Italian Navy ship Borsini and other
During FGS Bayern’s recent port visit to Djibouti, Operation Atalanta’s Force Commander, Rear Admiral Kaack, welcomed the Deputy Prime Minister of Somalia, Mohamed Omar Arte, on board. It was the first time that the Deputy Prime Minister has visited the German warship and he was received on board wi
The Spanish Air Force’s P-3 maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft (MPRA), currently deployed to Djibouti as part of Operation Atalanta, recently met with two Japanese P-3 aircraft which are deployed with the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) to fly in close formation over the Gulf of Aden. Mariti
German Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft (MPRA) detachment which has been flying the Orion P-3C as part of Operation Atalanta is set to return to the home air base in Germany. 50 soldiers from the Naval Air Wing (MFG) 3 “Graf Zeppelin” have been stationed at the Horn of Africa since March
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,
German Navy corvette ‘Erfurt’ returned to her homeport in Warnemünde, Germany on June 11 after a 17-month deployment. Having a ship spend 17 months deployed without returning home was important for the German Navy as it was able to test the ‘intensive use’ principle for the corvettes where four crew
Spanish frigate ESPS Santa Maria, currently deployed to Operation Atalanta, recently participated in an exercise with Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) ships JS Yuudachi and JS Yuugiri in the Gulf of Aden. The three warships sailed together in close formation and their Seahawk helicopters to
Two Operation Atalanta ships, FGS Bayern and ITS Euro, recently trained with the Seychelles Marine Police Unit and the Djiboutian Coastguard, respectively. Sailors from Operation Atalanta’s German Flagship, FGS Bayern, spent a day working with the Seychelles Marine Police Unit (MPU) during their por
