Newsroom

Cooperation and partnerships remain critical to the success of Operation Atalanta.

Cooperation is vital in order to deter piracy and to protect vulnerable shipping, such asWorld Food Programme vessels. European warships often transit the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden conducting maritime patrols, and this gives them the opportunity to directly support EU NAVFOR.

On 6th June EU NAVFOR’s Deputy Commander Rear Admiral Nanclares visited Montenegro and was welcomed by Chief of General Staff, Brigadier General Ilija Daković.

EU NAVFOR champions the cooperation and coordination of efforts with civilian and military partners to combat piracy; events such as the recent Counter-Piracy Exercise with the Multi-National Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) demonstrate this.

Today is #worldoceansday and the deterrence of piracy will reduce the threat to seafarers off the coast of Somalia, enabling uninterrupted transit of maritime trade through the economically important sea-lanes around the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden.

Whilst piracy off the coast of Somalia has been repressed it has not gone away. The threat continues and so the need for EU NAVFOR to be ready and capable continues.

Cooperation and coordination is a fundamental approach in the Western Indian Ocean as we work towards maritime security.

EU NAVFOR is encouraging key partners in the region to coordinate counter-piracy activities and to share information about regional maritime security.

An important part of EU NAVFOR’s counter-piracy mission around the Horn of Africa and the Western Indian Ocean is to support the development of maritime capabilities of the Somali and regional states.

Understanding piracy and armed robbery of vessels is essential in maintaining maritime security. In addition, quantifying the economic and human costs of piracy is important in comprehending the true impact of piracy and robbery at sea.

It is important for nations to take time to honour their service personnel and recently it was no different for the detachment of the EU NAVFOR Spanish Air Force Orion Maritime Patrol Reconnaissance Aircraft (MPRA).

EU NAVFOR has been bringing EU and regional partners together to focus on counter-piracy and maritime security as efforts continue to build on a more secure maritime environment.