EU Naval Force - Somalia
Operation ATALANTA

EU NAVFOR can confirm that the MV Talca, previously reported hijacked on 23 March en route to Busheir in Iran, has now arrived off the Somali coastal location of Bargaal, not a known pirate holding area, approximately 400 km north of Eyl, a pirate stronghold.

MV Talca has a crew of twenty-three from Sri Lanka, one from the Philippines and one from Syria. MV TALCA has a dead weight of 11 055 tonnes. EU NAVFOR will continue to monitor the situation.

Operation ATALANTA’s main tasks are to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the ‘World Food Program’ (WFP) and vessels of AMISOM, and to protect vulnerable ships 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.