On 13 June 2017 Senior Captain Wang Zhongcai from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy Escort Task Group (ETG) 577, welcomed Operation Atalanta’s Force Commander, Rear Admiral Rafael Fernández-Pintado Muñoz-Rojas, on board Chinese PLA Navy warship, Huang Gang.

This was the second successful meeting between the two counter-piracy forces this year. The first meeting took place on board Operation Atalanta’s Spanish flagship, ESPS Galicia, in early March prior to the PLA Navy’s escort of World Food Programme (WFP) vessel, MV Best Challenger, in late May 2017.

Meetings such as this help to strengthen relations between the European Union and Chinese counter-piracy naval forces, which are both seeking to strengthen maritime security off the coast of Somalia to enable all seafarers to transit the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean without the fear of being attacked by armed pirates.