EU Naval Force - Somalia
Operation ATALANTA

Early this morning, the MV HANNIBAL II, a Panamanian-flagged vessel, was pirated whilst on route from Malaysia to Suez.

The 24,105 tonne chemical tanker was carrying vegetable oils from Pasir Gudang to Suez at the time.  The master of the vessel reported that he had been attacked and boarded by pirates in an area some 860 nautical miles East of The Horn of Africa which is considerably closer to India than it is to Somalia.

The MV HANNIBAL II has a total of 31 crew on board.  This number consists of 23 Tunisians, 4 Filipinos, 1 Croatian, 1 Georgian, 1 Russian and 1 Moroccan.

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). EU NAVFOR also protects vulnerable vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, deters and disrupts piracy. EU NAVFOR finally monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia.