EU Naval Force - Somalia
Operation ATALANTA

The Swedish Government has announced that it is to send one Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) of the Swedish Coast Guard to join EU NAVFOR Somalia – OP ATALANTA in the early part of next year. The MPA will spend four months supporting the anti piracy effort and will be a welcome addition to the force.

This is the first time a MPA from the Swedish Coast Guard will participate in an international operation of this type. The MPA is a DASH-8 Q-300 equipped with several advanced surveillance systems that makes it one of the world’s most advanced sea surveillance planes. The MPA will be manned by a civilian crew.

The Swedish Coast Guard is a civilian authority under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defence.

The main tasks of EU NAVFOR Somaia – Operation ATALANTA are to escort merchant vessels carrying food of the ‘World Food Program’ (WFP), the protection of vulnerable ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean and to deter and disrupt piracy.