On Friday 5 December EU Naval Force Spanish frigate, ESPS Navarra, rendezvoused at sea with the EU Naval Force flagship, ITS Andrea Doria, off the coast of Somalia. After sailing near to each other, the Commanding Officer of ESPS Navarra, Commander Alejandro Cuerda Lorenzo, and two Spanish journalis
On Sunday 7 December Djiboutian Prime Minister Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed awarded Commander Bernard Baron (French Navy) the rank and dignity of Officer of the National Order of 27th of June. Commander Baron was presented with the award for his ‘outstanding service and assistance given to the Djibouti
On Tuesday 2 December Colonel Giampaolo Schiavo handed over command of the Djiboutian-based Italian Task Force Air (TFA) to Colonel Elio Volpari. During the past four months the TFA team has been operating with the EU’s counter-piracy Operation Atalanta, and conducted over 200 unmanned aerial flight
Over the past few weeks, the EU Naval Force warship, ESPS Navarra, has carried out several friendly approaches to fishing dhows off the northern coast of Somalia. After sighting several fishing dhows, the Spanish frigate established communications with the masters. After a short conversation, the Ma
This week the crew of a Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) P-3 Orion from the Royal New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) completed their support to NATO’s counter-piracy Operation OCEAN SHIELD (OOS) Task Force 508 (CTF-508). Between 13 and 30 November, the NATO partner nation’s detachment of more than 50 cr
The Republic of Madagascar welcomed the EU Naval Force German frigate, FGS Luebeck, and her crew in to the port of Antsiranana on Monday, 24 November. As a German warship has not visited Madagascar for some time, the German Ambassador, His Excellency Harald Gehrig and FGS Lubeck’s Commanding Officer
During their recent port visit to Dar es Salaam, the EU Naval Force flagship, ITS Andrea Doria conducted Local Maritime Capacity Building (LMCB) training with personnel from the Tanzanian People’s Defence Force. The training included briefings on the procedures for handling Improvised Explosive Devi
On Tuesday 25 November the outgoing 20th Spanish Maritime Patrol Aircraft Contingent held a Transfer of Authority (TOA) ceremony with the 21st Contingent team to hand over their counter-piracy duties in the Horn of Africa. The ceremony took place at the French Air Base in Djibouti. The military cere
The Operation Commander of the EU Naval Force, Major General Martin Smith MBE, visited the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Mr Koji Sekimizu, at the IMO headquarters in London on Wednesday 26 November. Meeting to discuss the current situation off the Horn of Africa
East African nations have a significant challenge ahead. The past few years have seen an encouraging decline in the volume of maritime piracy incidents that once dominated headlines with tales of hostage taking and freight ship hijacking, particularly in the Gulf of Aden and further south into the S
On 19 and 20 November, during her recent port visit to Dar Es Salam, EU Naval Force warship BNS Leopold I hosted members of the Tanzanian Navy in support of EUCAP Nestor’s initiative to conduct Local Maritime Capability Building (LMCB). On the first day, BNS Leopold I’s crew organised several worksh
The Council has extended the EU’s counter-piracy Operation Atalanta by two more years, until 12 December 2016. The Operation’s main focus is the protection of World Food Programme vessels delivering humanitarian aid to Somalia; and the deterrence, repression and disruption of piracy off the Somali c
The future Commander of Combined Maritime Forces Task Force 150 (CTF-150), Commodore Brian Santarpia (CAN N), visited NATO Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) to discuss coordination and interaction with NATO forces in the Indian Ocean. During the visit, Commodore Santarpia met with MARCOM Deputy Comma
Two U.S. Naval supply ships collided in the Gulf of Aden Nov. 20 at 5:26 a.m. (GMT) with no injuries to crew members. USNS Amelia Earhart (T-AKE 6) and USNS Walter S. Diehl (T-AO 193) collided as they were beginning an underway replenishment operation. Initial reports indicate only minor damage to b
