EU Naval Force - Somalia
Operation ATALANTA

Force Commander CTF465, Portuguese Commodore Diogo Arroteia, had a video conference call with Combined Maritime Force Commander CTF151, last week, to coordinate counter-piracy efforts in the Area of Operations. During the meeting, both stressed the importance of close cooperation, as well as, tactical coordination including the willingness of both Task Forces to support each other and even plan and conduct combined focused operation in a close future in order to expand the covered areas.

The first meeting with CMF in 2021 was the Combined Coordination Board at Chiefs of Staff level on 14 January, focusing on additional areas of common engagement and coordination after the EU Council Decision 2188 of 22 December 2020 extended Operation ATALANTA ‘s mandate and increased its responsibilities in the region. CMF and EU NAVFOR Atalanta work closely to achieve the common goal of a safe and secure regional maritime environment to secure the freedom of navigation and the rule of international law. This translates into a wide variety of activities spanning from common reports to the shipping industry, both quarterly and on a case-by-case basis, to the Shared Awareness and De-confliction (SHADE) conference. The jointly hosted annual SHADE conference offers a high visibility to reach a broad audience within the maritime security community to engage with other key security providers and the shipping industry to coordinate and de-conflict efforts in the Western Indian Ocean.

CMF Headquarters in Al Manamah (Bahrain) and the EU NAVFOR OHQ in Rota (Spain) exchange regularly in counter-piracy meetings from Staff to Command Group level in order to strengthen cooperation between organizations and enhance common understanding of the operational environment and streamline all efforts to promote security in the region. During these meetings, EUNAVFOR and CMF share information on the force flow, challenges, best practices and explore new areas of collaboration of both key regional security providers to counter piracy in the region more effectively.

.