EU Naval Force - Somalia
Operation ATALANTA

On 12 November 2010, during its visit to Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania, a group of officers from the EU NAVFOR warship ITS LIBECCIO paid a visit to some of the merchant vessels also berthed in the port.

This visit aimed to develop contacts with the merchant vessels’ crews and to reinforce the importance of applying Best Management Practices (BMP).

It was stressed that, in addition to MSCHOA registration and a high degree of vigilance, BMP are vital to merchant vessels security, as they have proven extremely effective in significantly decreasing the risk of being pirated.

These meetings with the seafarers enabled the EU NAVFOR officers to share information and experience regarding the piracy threat in the area and to discuss the countermeasures to be used before and during a pirate attack.  The merchant vessels’ crews were also briefed on the EU NAVFOR’s mission.

The ships’ masters welcomed the visit of EU NAVFOR officers and showed them the self-defence measures implemented onboard their vessels.