EU Naval Force - Somalia
Operation ATALANTA

On 11 of August 2014 the Combat Support Ship FGS Berlin received a visit from the Force Commander of the European Union Naval Force Somalia Rear Admiral Guido Rando. It was the first visit aboard an Operation Atalanta unit other than the flagship since he assumed command on 6 August in Djibouti.

The Force Commander and his staff were picked up by Berlin’s SH-3D Sea King helicopter during a Replenishment At Sea (RAS) manoeuvre of FGS Berlin and the flagship ITS Andrea Doria in Gulf of Aden.

After meeting the ship’s officers, Rear Admiral Rando was briefed by the Commanding Officer (CO), Commander Marcel Rosenbohm, on FGS Berlin’s capabilities. The Force Commander was highly impressed by the outstanding logistical and medical facilities that FGS Berlin offers. With her self-defence system, her two Sea King helicopters and the boarding capabilities, FGS Berlin is far more than purely a supply and support vessel and can fulfil a wide range of counter-piracy operations while deployed with the EU Naval Force.

Admiral Rando thanked the CO and the crew of FGS Berlin for their hospitality, hard work and the high value support provided to Operation Atalanta units and other allied counter-piracy forces in the area of operations, before leaving the ship by ITS Andrea Doria EH-101 Merlin helicopter.