During HNLMS Tromp’s visit to the Seychelles, Operation Atalanta’s Force Commander, Dutch Commodore Luyckx, took the opportunity to visit the Danish Air Force Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft (MPRA) detachment that is currently based there.
Detachment Commander, Major Anders Kyed, welcomed the EU’s counter-piracy Force Commander. The Detachment’s aircrew and specialist operators provided Commodore Luyckx with a tour of the Danish MPRA.
A Danish detachment has deployed to the Seychelles every year since 2011 as part of NATO’s Operation Ocean Shield.
Successful cooperation between counter-piracy naval forces has resulted in increased maritime security across the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden and a reduction in Somali piracy since its height in 2011.