EU Naval Force - Somalia
Operation ATALANTA

On Friday, the 2nd of April, a new Pirate Action Group (PAG) made a fast approach on EUNAVFOR Warship HNLMS Tromp and were stopped in their tracks.

The operation started when a slow moving surface object was discovered by EUNAVFOR Warship HNLMS TROMP who  launched her Lynx helicopter to identify the target. The Lynx helicopter visually detected  a Pirate Action Group (PAG) consisting of one mother skiff and two attack skiffs. In one of the attack skiffs a ladder was sighted.

When TROMP was spotted by the PAG, the suspected pirates, in the two attack skiffs, started to approach her at high speed. As they closed to a distance of 3 nautical miles two bursts of heavy machine gun warning shots were fired by HNLMS TROMP. The two attack skiffs stopped their approach, attempted to flee and and threw several undefined objects into the water. Afterwards, TROMP boarding team found 12 suspected pirates and 12 barrels gasoline (200 litres). No fire arms or piracy related goods were found. The mother skiff was destroyed.

Currently in the European Union Operation Atalanta more then 140 pirates have been disarmed and 25 PAGs have been disrupted. 3 PAG were disrupted in coordination with Seychelles Coast Guard and 2 PAGs with other Task Forces (NATO and CMF) operating in the Region.

EU NAVFOR Somalia – Operation ATALANTA’s main tasks are to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the ‘World Food Program’ (WFP) and vessels of AMISOM, and to protect vulnerable ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean and to deter and disrupt piracy. EU NAVFOR monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia.