On 10 November, EU NAVFOR Force Commander, Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino, met with the Commander of NATO’s Operation Ocean Shield, Rear Admiral Ben Bekkering, on board the NATO flagship, HNLMS Rotterdam.
The two Force Commanders discussed the issue of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Somali basin. “Information sharing between our Forces has proved to be an outstanding tool for preventing and tackling piracy in these waters”, said Rear Admiral Credendino during the meeting.
Both Force Commanders are approaching the end of their time with their respective task forces and as a result, the meeting was also an opportunity to look ahead to the coming months. “An outbreak of piracy after the end of the monsoon season has not occurred; this has largely been thanks to the capability of the Forces involved in the fight, to share information and co-operate with each other” added Rear Admiral Credendino, who left the Dutch flagship with a strengthened relationship with his NATO counterpart. “I’m sure that our successors will continue along the same path of co-operation that we have” he said.
Over the past few months, EU NAVFOR and NATO co-operation has led to the disruption of a pirate attack group in the Gulf of Aden. Furthermore, at the end of October, a group of suspected pirates, who had allegedly attempted to seize the Spanish tuna fishing vessel FV Izurdia, were captured by HNMLS Rotterdam and then taken in to custody by EU NAVFOR warship ESPS Castilla; they were then transferred to Spain for prosecution.