- The new Force rotation is commanded by an Italian Admiral, Rear Admiral Davide Da Pozzo, and the Italian ship, ITS Rizzo is the new flagship of the Operation.
- Portugal was in charge of the Force Command in the previous rotation on board Spanish ship ESPS Santa Maria as flagship of the Operation.
On 20 February Italian Rear Admiral Davide Da Pozzo assumed command of the 49th rotation as Force Commander of the European Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) Operation ATALANTA. He takes command of Task Force 465 from Portuguese Commodore Alexandre Serrano who was in command since 12 December 2024. The ceremony, which took place on the Spanish ship Santa Maria in the Port of Djibouti, was chaired by the EUNAVFOR ATALANTA Operation Commander Vice Admiral Ignacio Villanueva Serrano.
Vice Admiral Villanueva conveyed his highest appreciation for his commitment to the outgoing Force Commander, and the crew of ESPS Santa María. The 48th Rotation was involved in several piracy events: two Armed Robbery at sea events, one involving a Chinese-flagged fishing vessel and the other involving the Yemeni-flagged fishing vessel “AL NAJMA”, both of them already close. The current hijacking of a Yemeni-flagged vessel is still under investigation and being monitored by Operation ATALANTA.
This rotation completed a successful deployment with numerous friendly approaches in the Area of Operations including to the vessel “AL-MERAJ 1” which was pirated in November 2023 off the coast of Somalia and freed at the beginning of December 2023.
“I pledge to uphold the principles that have guided our mission thus far and made it successful: cooperation and a commitment to the rule of law. Our success will depend on our ability to work together, not only within our forces but also with our international partners, and regional stakeholders” said Rear Admiral Davide Da Pozzo after taking command as Force Commander. He will lead the 49th rotation of Operation ATALANTA forces with the Italian warship, ITS Rizzo as Operation ATALANTA’s flagship. The other surface asset for this rotation is the Spanish frigate ESPS Reina Sofia.
The ceremony was attended by several international and local civilian and military authorities including several European Union Ambassadors and commanders of different forces in the area.
The Force Headquarters, under the command of the Operation Headquarters in Rota (Spain), is an embarked headquarters forward deployed to ATALANTA Area of Operation, responsible for the Tactical Command of all EUNAVFOR multinational assets in the area. Its main responsibility is conducting operations at the operational and tactical level, under the ATALANTA Operation mandate and the Operation Headquarters’ guidance.
