EU Naval Force - Somalia
Operation ATALANTA

The crew of EU Naval Force Spanish warship, ESPS Relampago, were delighted to welcome aboard Commodore Hadyn Edmundson Royal Canadian Navy, during their port visit to Tanzania.

During his visit Commodore Edmundson, who took command of Combined Task Force 150, based in Bahrain, in early December, went below deck to meet the sailors and marines who are currently deployed in the Indian Ocean as part of the European Union’s efforts to ensure Somali-based piracy remains suppressed.  The visit followed Commodore Edmundson’s visit to the EU Naval Force’s HQ in London, UK in November last year.

After ESPS Relampago’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Francisco Garcia Flores, provided the Commodore with an update on the EU’s counter-piracy operations, they discussed the successful cooperation and coordination that exists between the EU Naval Force and the Combined Maritime Forces, which serves to strengthen maritime security in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean – a sea area of immense strategic importance.

Before he departed ESPS Relampago, Commodore Edmundson kindly signed the ship’s visitors’ book.