Sailors and civilian maritime professionals from eight nations officially kicked-off exercise Cutlass Express 2012-2 (CE12-2) during pre-sail conferences in Djibouti, Djibouti; Port Louis, Mauritius; and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Nov. 1. This year’s weeklong exercise, being conducted for the second t
Spanish warship ESPS Relampago, which is operating as part of the European Union Naval Force counter-piracy mission – Operation Atalanta, has ensured the safe arrival of a World Food Programme (WFP) ship, MV Masar Trade, in to Mogadishu. ESPS Relampago escorted MV Masar Trade, which was carrying muc
On 27 October EU NAVFOR Force Commander, Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino, visited Spanish warship ESPS Relampago, which is operating as part of the European Union Naval Force deployed off the Horn of Africa and Gulf of Aden in counter-piracy operation – Atalanta. The Force Commander and members of hi
On the 16 October 2012, the Spanish warship ESPS Relampago, operating as part of the EU Naval Force, hosted a team from the Djiboutian Coastguard. The aim of the visit was to train the coastguards in fire fighting and ship damage control techniques. The team of 10 were welcomed on board ESPS Relampa
On Saturday, 20 October 2012, the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) German frigate FGS Sachsen located a suspicious dhow and detained seven suspected pirates. The German frigate was tasked on Friday, 19 October 2012, to locate an Iranian dhow as reports indicated the vessel to be in the hand of pirates. On
HNLMS Rotterdam put an end to the activities of a group of suspected pirates from Somalia. The men in question and their boat were taken on board the Rotterdam pending further decision-making. The search for this pirate group began yesterday when the Spanish fishing boat Izurdia reported being under
Ahead of the upcoming Seatrade Middle East Maritime exhibition and conference, the International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre confirms that pirate attacks off the Somali coast have declined by more than 54%, leading to a softening of insurance premiums for the global shipping comm
Over the weekend EU NAVFOR Force Commander, Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino and the Commander of the Combined Maritime Force (CMF), Rear Admiral Oguz Karaman, met at sea onboard CTF 151 flagship TCG Gemlik. During the meeting Rear Admiral Credendino and his staff discussed with CTF 151 staff the hand
On Sunday 7 October Romanian EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) frigate ROS Regele Ferdinand, completed her first “friendly approach” to a vessel just off the Somali Coast. ROS Regele Ferdinand joined EU NAVFOR on 1 October 2012, becoming the first Romanian warship to take part in the EU Naval Force Operati
Last night EU Naval Force flagship, ITS San Giusto stopped and apprehended a skiff with 7 suspect pirates onboard. The EU warship, that was carrying out counter-piracy patrols as part of Operation Atalanta, had sighted the skiff carrying a ladder and up to 20 fuel drums 180 miles east of Socotra and
On 10 September EU NAVFOR Force Commander, Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino, visited French frigate La Fayette. La Fayette has been part of the European Union Counter Piracy force – Operation Atalanta off the Horn of Africa since 31 July 2012. Rear Admiral Credendino and his European staff were welcom
The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) today has announced the introduction of two new Admiralty Maritime Security Charts to cover The Mediterranean (Q6111) and The Persian Gulf (Q6110). The two new paper charts, together with a new online update service, provide a simple, single point of ref
Barely a week after a United States Naval ship, HSV 2 SWIFT visited its Nigerian counterpart for a joint training, the Brazilian Navy offshore patrol vessel – AMAZONS P120 is billed to arrive in the country on a four-day port call to the Nigerian Navy. A statement by the Information Officer, Western
European Union Naval Force Somalia – Operation Atalanta, NATO and Combined Task Force 151 (CTF 151) – the big three – call upon the shipping industry to continue to take anti-piracy measures despite the current downward trend in piracy events. In a recent report published by the International Mariti
