EU Naval Force - Somalia
Operation ATALANTA

As the EU Operation gathers pace and following a recent awareness campaign among the merchant shipping community, a record number of owners and operators are now registering with the Op Atalanta Maritime Security Centre.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4 the Op Atalanta’s Commander Rear Admiral Jones made it clear of how aware he was of the owners and operators concerns about piracy and how keen he was to increase his understanding of their needs so he can maximize the effectiveness of the warships under his command.

He went onto praise the merchant shipping community saying:

“The way they are taking self protective measures in their own ships has been one of the most significant elements of countering piracy … many of the piracy attacks that have been deterred and thwarted in recent weeks have been the result of those merchant ships taking effective self protective measures, if a warship cannot get to them in time”.

Following the Greek frigate PSARA’s successful escorting of 2 World Food Program Vessels, the MVs MILTZOW and ROZEN, this week has also seen a fall in the number of successful attacks against merchant vessels and the release of 5 pirated ships and over 70 crew members.