On Wednesday 06 January 2016, Operation Atalanta warship, ITS Carabiniere, and Japanese warship, JDS Suzunami, met at sea to conduct joint exercises in the Gulf of Aden.

After a visit by Rear Admiral Barbieri to JDS Suzunami, the exercise began in earnest, with the  two ships closing each other’s position to conduct joint maritime training.

Commenting on the training, Rear Admiral Barbieri said: “Exercises such as this help to strengthen the cooperation and integration between different counter-piracy forces, whose common aim is to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia and improve security at sea.”

On completion of the exercise, both ships resumed their counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.