The Russian Federation Northern Fleet ASW frigate RFS SEVEROMORSK is currently escorting the M\V Medi Chennai which is carrying 45,936 metric tons of wheat for the World Food Programme (WFP) through the Red Sea to Djibouti.
The SEVEROMORSK is part of the coalition of warships from many nations currently deployed off the coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden to protect merchant shipping from piracy. With famine spreading in Somalia the delivery of food aid is essential and made possible with the continued presence of warships. The co-ordination between the numerous navies operating in the Indian Ocean is of paramount importance in order to increase the overall effectiveness of the deployed naval forces.
EU NAVFOR Somalia is a counter-piracy taskforce operating in the area of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean responsible for deterring, preventing and repressing acts of piracy, for the safe escort of ships carrying humanitarian aid of the World Food Program and vessels of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and to protect other vulnerable vessels. Additionally, EU NAVFOR monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia