EU Naval Force - Somalia
Operation ATALANTA

As part of Her Majesty the Queen’s formal opening of the new Permanent Joint Headquarters building in Northwood, HRH the Duke of Edinburgh paid a separate visit to the new EU NAVFOR Headquarters, situated within the new building.

HRH was met at the MNHQ building entrance and brought into the EU NAVFOR Headquarters and was met by the Operation Commander, Rear Admiral Peter Hudson CBE, and the Deputy Commander Rear Admiral Bartolome.

HRH was escorted to the conference room where he received a brief on EU NAVFOR’s part in the fight against piracy from the Operation Commander. HRH was introduced to Simon Church, the senior Merchant Navy Liaison Officer before departing the building to rejoin the visit programme of Her Majesty the Queen.

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 Unions 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.