EU Naval Force - Somalia
Operation ATALANTA

As part of her counter-piracy role within the EU Naval Force, Spanish frigate ESPS Navarra has completed an escort at sea of a World Food Programme (WFP) vessel along the coast of Somalia.

The merchant vessel’s ports of call were Kismayo and Mogadishu, which are both in Somalia. Both cities are used as distribution bases to organise food aid deliveries to displaced persons in the region.

The captain of the WFP vessel expressed his gratitude and appreciation for the assistance given by EU Naval Force warships to help keep World Food Programme ships safe from pirate attack.

The EU Force Commander, Rear Admiral Jürgen zur Mühlen, spoke to ESPS Navarra’s ship’s company on completion of this latest EU Naval Force escort duty “Thanks to your efforts, this World Food Programme vessel arrived safely to the coast of Mogadishu, thus adding to EU Naval Force’s success story of protecting WFP vessels in the piracy high risk area.  Altogether the World Food Program has delivered approximately 900.000 tons of humanitarian goods to the suffering people in Somalia since 2008. Well done ESPS Navarra.”