Working as a force made up of a large variety of nations can present numerous challenges; however when correctly exploited this enables the Force Commander, Rear Admiral Nanclares to have a plethora of expertise and resources to hand in order to maintain the counter-piracy operation around the Horn of Africa.

On the 27^th of September 2018 EU NAVFOR ships ITS Federico Martinengo and flagship ESPS Castilla met at sea in the Indian Ocean; here they carried out an exchange of crew members, a manoeuvring exercise, as well as a helicopter cross deck.

Admiral Nanclares (Spanish Navy) is the Force Commander of Operation Atlanta based on board ESPS Castilla. The Admiral cross-decked to ITS Martinengo where he addressed the ships company. He said, “It is a great honour to command such a formidable force at Sea off the coast of Somalia. Our success is dependent on working together 24 hours a day”.

Though the two ships are mainly made up of Italian and Spanish crews, EU NAVFOR as a force is currently contributed to by 21 nations.