On Wednesday 28 September 2016, Atalanta was boosted by the arrival of French warship La Fayette.
As the second French vessel to be named after the 18th century General Marquis de Lafayette, she was commissioned into the French Navy in 1996 and will conduct counter-piracy operations for the third time as part of Atalanta, having previously deployed in 2010 and 2012.
Operation Atalanta warships have been deployed in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean since December 2008 as part of the European Union’s commitment to protect from pirate attack World Food Programme (WFP) vessels carrying humanitarian aid to displaced people in Somalia and merchant ships carrying goods to and from Europe.
We wish La Fayette a fair winds and following seas in her upcoming deployment!