EU Naval Force - Somalia
Operation ATALANTA

On 6 August, the Hellenic frigate ELLI conducted her final task as part of the EU NAVFOR Task Force.  During her 114 days in Task Force 465 she has conducted the full range of tasks in the Gulf of Aden and the Somali Basin.

One of her last tasks was escorting an AMISOM vessel, MV PETRA 1.  AMISOM and World Food Programme escorts are tasks that ELLI has conducted on a number of occasions over the last few months. On this occasion thanks to her organic helicopter she was able to concurrently conduct an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance task along the coast.

The frigate HS ELLI has served faithfully and made an eminent contribution to EU NAVFOR and Operation ATALANTA.

Force Commander Jan Thörnqvist stated in his farewell signal: “My hearty thanks and congratulations to HS ELLI for a well conducted mission in EU NAVFOR”.

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