In Oct 2012, Ukrainian Navy’s airplane An-26 will join EU Operation Atalanta conducted off Somalia to counter piracy, reports Ukrinform referring to Vasily Filipchuk, Director of Political Dept, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. As for him, “Ukrainian naval airplane An-26 will be dispatched to the mission
French Navy command and replenishment ship FS MARNE left Toulon on 25 March and is heading towards the Gulf of Aden and the Somali Basin, with the future EU NAVFOR Force Commander, Rear-Admiral Dupuis and his staff on board. The FS MARNE carries a complement of 215 personnel on board, among whom are
As of 23 March 2012 the Counter-Piracy force of the European Union (EUNAVFOR) which normally includes between 4 and 7 warships patrolling the Gulf of Aden and Horn of Africa will be joined by two new warships of the French navy; Frigate FS GEORGES LEYGUES and Amphibious Assault Ship FS DIXMUDE. FS G
On Friday 23 March 2012 the Council of the European Union confirmed its intention to extend the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) counter-piracy mission, Operation ATALANTA off the Somali coast until December 2014. At the same time the Council also extended the area of operations to include Somali coastal
On 21 March 2012, the Spanish Crown Prince, Felipe de Borbon, visited Spanish service men and women deployed as part of EUNAVFOR in the Gulf of Aden. The Prince said he was proud and “full of emotion”, for the outstanding work these Spanish men and women were performing, saying he is aware of the ch
A media day was held onboard the EU Naval Force Spanish flagship, ESPS PATIÑO alongside Mombasa Port on Thursday 15 March. The event was hosted by the EU Naval Force Commander, Rear Admiral Jorge Manso and the EU’s Head of Delegation in Kenya, Mr. Loedwijk Briet. They were also accompanied at the Me
Amount of pirate attacks off African coast sharply reduced in 2011, said French defense minister Gérard Longuet. About 200 attacks were registered in 2011 in contrast to 700 attacks in 2010; pirates captured 13 vessels in 2011, while in 2010 there were 30 ships, reports ITAR-TASS referring to Longue
HMAS Parramatta handed over duties to HMAS Melbourne in the Middle East maritime Area of Operations last week after completing a successful six-month maritime security and interception operation deployment as part of Operation SLIPPER rotation 27. HMAS Parramatta is now heading home to Fleet Base Ea
Pacific Fleet (PF) servicemen held joint exercise and released a civil ship “captured” by pirates in the last day of the visit to Seychelles on March 5. According to the PF task unit commander Capt 1 rank Ildar Akhmerov, Russian servicemen demonstrated anti-piracy skills to their Seychelles counterp
Armed pirates attacked a refrigerator ship in the harbor of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The ship is chartered by a Dutch company; her crew consists of Russian, Ukrainian, and Filipino sailors. The incident happened on Feb 28. Menacing the crewmembers with guns, pirates forced them to give money and, hav
EU NAFVOR warship FGS BERLIN has successfully engineered the release of an Indian flagged dhow and crew, disrupting a Pirate Action Group and destroying two attack skiffs. On 28 February 2012, EUNAVFOR Warship FGS BERLIN received a distress call from a merchant vessel reporting that they had success
Britain’s most advanced warship HMS Daring joined Allied navies in a concerted sweep of troubled waters for her first major operation east of Suez. The destroyer joined Australian, Pakistani, New Zealand and Yemeni ships and personnel on Operation Scimitar Anzac, which scoured the Red Sea, Gulf of A
Members of Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, embarked aboard guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey (DDG 97), met with Russian leadership aboard the Russian anti-submarine warfare ship Admiral Tributs, Feb. 19. The meeting gave the two naval leaders the opportunity to discuss counter-piracy operations and
ESPS INFANTA ELENA, a Descubierta class corvette, joins the EUNAVFOR operation ATALANTA today, 27 February. ESPS INFANTA ELENA, commissioned into the Spanish Navy in April 1980 is a patrol ship of 1200 tonnes. The Spanish ship joins OP ATALANTA operations with the mission to protect vulnerable shipp
