EU Naval Force - Somalia
Operation ATALANTA

On September 6 the motor vessel MSC PANAMA was released from pirate control after 270 days in captivity and is now underway to a safe port.

The MSC PANAMA is a Liberian flagged container ship with a crew of 23, all from Myanmar.  She was pirated on 10th December 2010, en route from Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) to Beira (Mozambique) approximately 80 nautical miles east of the Tanzanian/Mozambique border.

EU NAVFOR Somalia is a counter-piracy taskforce operating in the area of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, responsible for deterring, preventing and repressing acts of piracy, for the safe escort of ships carrying humanitarian aid of the World Food Programme and vessels of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and to protect other vulnerable vessels. Additionally, EU NAVFOR monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia.