March 2019

A ceremony took place today in Rota Naval Base, Cadiz, Spain, to mark the relocation of the operation Headquarters of EU NAVFOR Atalanta Operation.

Earlier this week the EU NAVFOR flagship ESPS Navarra has conducted a passing exercise (PASSEX) in the Gulf of Aden with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) destroyer Samidare.  Rear Admiral Ricardo Hernandez, the EU NAVFOR Force Commander, met with Captain (JPN Navy) Takahiro Nishiyama

On 25th March 2019, a delegation from EU NAVFOR together with EUCAP Somalia met in Bossasso with the Puntland Minister of Ports and Maritime Crime Prevention, Mohamed Abdi Osman, to exchange views on the security situation at sea and to identify opportunities for further collaboration and

The Operational Headquarters (OHQ) for EU NAVFOR is in the final stages of its move from Northwood, UK to Rota, Spain and to Brest, France. The handover will take place on the 29th March 2019.

A joint EU NAVFOR and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) team conducted training with representatives from Seychellois law enforcement agencies and the judicial system, to assist them with continued improvement and development of all areas within the legal process, involving from captu

EU NAVFOR recently supported a successful joint Somali / Ugandan maritime leadership training exercise course in the capital, Mogadishu.

One of EU NAVFOR’s mandated tasks is to provide protection to World Food Programme (WFP) ships that bring food aid to Somalia. This has ensured the safe delivery of over 1.8 million tonnes of food aid to the ports of Somalia as of February 2019.

Counter-piracy operations require a constant presence of maritime forces designed to monitor and deter piracy and armed robbery at sea. EU NAVFOR has been continuing this effort for over 10 years and has maritime and aviation forces continuing to work off the coast of Somalia.

ITS Margottini is re-joining EU NAVFOR for its second six-month tour participating in Op Atalanta, the European Union’s first naval operation, launched in 2008 to prevent piracy at sea off the Horn of Africa and in the Indian Ocean.