On April 28, 2015, Marines with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit stepped back into a more direct naval defensive role when they augmented security for the mine countermeasures ship USS Sentry (MCM 3) during a transit through the Strait of Bab el Mandeb. Maj. Tyler Holland, the 24th MEU assistant o
The Military Sealift Command’s joint high-speed vessel USNS Spearhead (JHSV 1), along with its embarked detachment of U.S. Navy Sailors and civil service mariners, departed Mindelo, Cabo Verde, following a scheduled port visit May 11, 2015. The visit is Spearhead’s final port call as it finishes up
On Wednesday 6 May 2015 Rear Admiral Alfonso Gómez from the Spanish Navy, assumed command of Operation Atalanta’s Force Headquarters (FHQ) during a ceremony held in Djibouti. The new FHQ staff, which is embarked in Spanish Navy warship, ESPS Galicia, is made up from 14 European Union Member States,
On Thursday 30 April the ship’s company and international Force HQ staff based on board the EU Naval Force flagship, HNLMS Johan de Witt, were presented with their Operation Atalanta counter-piracy medal by Force Commander, Rear Admiral Jonas Haggren. In his speech Rear Admiral Haggren thanked the s
Australian Navy’s Seahawk helicopter crew embarked in HMAS Success operated in support of Operation OCEAN SHIELD, a NATO counter-piracy operation around the Horn of Africa, in early April. The Seahawk crew and their helicopter ‘Odin’ have been deployed to the Middle East since November 2014 as part
The Spanish Navy’s offshore patrol vessel (OPV) Infanta Cristina has just completed a third of her scheduled deployment in operation ‘Atalanta’ in the Indian Ocean. The ‘Infanta Cristina’ integrated into the European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) on March 6th. Her main mission is to patrol the IRTC (
The Force Commander of Operation Atalanta, Rear Admiral Jonas Haggren, has visited Spanish Navy warship, ESPS Infanta Cristina, during one of her counter-piracy patrols off the coast of Somalia. ESPS Infanta Cristina has been deployed as part of Operation Atalanta since March 2015. Rear Admiral Hagg
NATO and the Republic of Djibouti have enhanced their cooperation, by concluding on 22 April 2015 an agreement to establish a NATO liaison office in Djibouti in support of the Alliance’s counter piracy operation, Ocean Shield, in the Gulf of Aden. NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Operatio
The Spanish Navy’s amphibious assault ship ‘Galicia’ has set sail from Rota Naval Base towards the Indian Ocean to take part in the counter piracy operation ‘Atalanta’. On this occasion, the ship will operate as command ship of the force and, to this end, the Spanish rear admiral Alfonso Gómez Ferná
On Wednesday 15 April, French Navy warship, FS L’Adroit, joined the EU Naval Force to conduct counter-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia. The L’Adroit is a Gowind class Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV), that can accommodate a helicopter, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and a Rigid Hulled Inflatabl
Nigerian Navy’s Western Naval Command personnel repelled a pirate attack over the weekend. Ten suspected pirates travelling in two boats attempted to hijack a foreign product tanker MT Imas. As reported by This Day Live, the pirates, who have already boarded and took over the vessel, resisted arrest
During her recent visit to Port Victoria, in the Seychelles, EU Naval Force warship, HNLMS Johan de Witt, in association with a team from EUCAP Nestor, conducted a Search and Rescue (SAR) exercise, with local Seychellois maritime and air agencies. The purpose of the exercise was to run through the l
Royal New Zealand Navy’s Anzac class frigate HMNZS Te Kaha engaged in a Replenishment-at-Sea (RAS) with Royal Australian Navy’s Durance-class replenishment oiler HMAS Success. The vessels met in the Gulf of Aden region, and together with HMAS Anzac, the three ships will proceed to the Mediterranean
EU Naval Force warship, HNLMS Johan de Witt, through her embarked Swedish CB90 Fast Assault craft, conducted a Friendly Approach (FA) whilst on EU counter-piracy patrols along the Somali coastline. A FA is a friendly and voluntary interaction with local seafarers who are not suspected of being engag
