On 31 January, the EU NAVFOR Operational Commander, Major General Charles Stickland, hosted a High-Level Industry Strategy meeting at the Operation Headquarters in Northwood. This was attended by the leadership of  Shipping Industry Associations. The meeting was also attended by the next Operational Commander, Vice Admiral Antonio Martarell of the Spanish Navy, who will take command of the Operation when it moves to Rota, Spain as of 29 March 2019.

EU NAVFOR’s strategic relationship with the International Shipping Industry sits at the centre of its success in reducing and containing the piracy threat from Somalia. This success is the result of our trusted partnership with the shipping industry as well as a combined effort of military forces and the well-established protection practices in Best Management Practices 5. This joint deterrence and inter-dependence is why Somali piracy is contained.

The meeting reinforced the need for continual civil-military engagement at the strategic level. To consolidate  the accomplishments of EU NAVFOR’s mission we will need to build on these as Industry looks to the EU to safeguard the free flow of trade in the Horn of Africa at a time when maritime security threats in this region are many and unpredictable. General Stickland stressed the importance of preserving at least a minimum naval deterrence working in concert with the information architecture and the self-protection measures in Best Management Practices 5 between merchant ships and naval counter piracy operations that is critical to containing piracy.