On Tuesday 7 April a Serbian maritime protection team joined the EU Naval Force to take on the role of protecting World Food Programme (WFP) vessel, MSM Douro from potential pirate attack as it sails along the Somali coast. A maritime protection team from Croatia has held this important role for the past four months.
The handover ceremony between the Croatian and Serbian forces was held on board MSM Douro in Djibouti and attended by military officers from Croatia, Serbia, France and the EU Naval Force.
The EU Naval Force maritime protection team is a highly-trained and well-equipped force and due to its constant vigilance at sea, no WFP vessel has been pirated since the EU took on the protection role in December 2008.
During their time on board, the Croatian team spent 100 days at sea and completed 14 close escorts between Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti, thus ensuring the safe delivery of 195, 300 metric tonnes of humanitarian aid for the Somali people.