EU Naval Force - Somalia
Operation ATALANTA

On the 10 June, the MV ZIRKU was released from pirate control after 73 days in captivity.

She was pirated on the 28 March 2011, approximately 250 nautical miles South East of Salalah in the eastern part of the Gulf of Aden

The UAE flagged and Kuwaiti owned vessel was on its way to Singapore from Bashayer (Sudan) when she was pirated. The MV ZIRKU has a crew of 29 (1 Croatian, 1 Iraqi, 1 Filipino, 1 Indian, 3 Jordanians, 3 Eqyptians, 2 Ukrainians and 17 Pakistanis). There is no further information about the crew at present.

MV ZIRKU is on her way to a safe port.

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