EU Naval Force - Somalia
Operation ATALANTA

On 18 of March at 11.00, the Deputy commander EU NAVFOR Rear Admiral Bartolome Bauza ended a very successful visit to the Seychelles.

The final meeting was with the President of Republic of The Seychelles His Excellency Mr James Michel. During the meeting His Excellency expressed his gratitude for EU NAVFOR’s contribution to anti piracy efforts in the region and the close cooperation with the Seychelles in countering this criminality.

RAdm Bauza also had the opportunity to meet Mr Joel Morgan, the Minister for Environment, National resources and Transport. Mr Morgan is also president of the antipiracy committee and RAdm Bauza expressed EU NAVFOR’s thanks for the excellent cooperation on yesterdays handover of the 11 suspected pirates to the Seychelles for prosecution.

After the meeting with the His Excellency, The President, there was a short informal press conference which the French Ambassador in the Seychelles Mr Philippe Delacroix also attended. RAdm Bauza stated during the press conference that “it is a great honour for me to have met His Excellency the President today. It is important to have such cooperation in the region to counter this scourge of piracy and EU NAVFOR is very grateful for the support provided by the Seychelles to this operation.

EU NAVFOR Somalia – Operation ATALANTA’s main tasks are to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the ‘World Food Program’ (WFP) and vessels of AMISOM, and to protect vulnerable ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean and to deter and disrupt piracy. EU NAVFOR also monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia.