EU Naval Force - Somalia
Operation ATALANTA

Today 6 August, EU NAVFOR’s capacities have been reinforced with the arrival of the French frigate FASM DUPLEIX in the area of operations.

DUPLEIX is an anti-submarine frigate of the F70 class, which has been in service with the French Navy since the early 1980s. She has a displacement of 4,500 tons and besides her two diesel main engines she is also equipped with two gas turbines.

DUPLEIX and its 312 crew members will be part of the EU NAVFOR Task Force for 6 days. She will be leaving the force a few days before French frigate FASM DE GRASSE takes over command of the Task Force. One of the operation’s success factors is without any doubt the great number of European warships enabling an ongoing presence in the area.

EU NAVFOR Somalia – Operation ATALANTA’s main tasks are to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the World Food Program (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.