During a recent port visit to Oman, Operation Atalanta’s Force Commander, Rear Admiral Kaack, invited the Commander of the Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, Rear Admiral Cheong Kwok Chien, on board the EU Naval Force (Somalia) flagship, FGS Bayern.

Rear Admiral Cheong was in Salalah visiting CTF 151’s Japanese units, JS Yuudachi and JS Yuugiri.  Like Operation Atalanta, CTF 151 is a multi-national, counter-piracy task force operating at sea off the coast of Somalia.  Unlike Atalanta, nations that contribute warships to CTF 151 come largely from outside the European Union.

 During the visit, both Commanders welcomed the close cooperation that exists between their respective Task Forces in the shared aim to deter and disrupt piracy in the region.  Plans were made to further strengthen this cooperation in the future through joint naval training.