Siroco News

On March 4, 20 trainees from the Basic Training course for the Seychelles Coast Guard took part in a training exercise covering the use of electronic navigation equipment. The training was delivered by Seychelles Coast Guard trainers and EUNAVFOR with support from EUCAP Nestor on board the French EUNAVFOR Flagship Siroco. The trainees received practical and theoretical instruction in how to use equipment such as GPS, AIS, ECDIS, radar and gyrocompass. "This training was very useful," said the Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard, Lt Col Dine.

On Monday, February 24, European Union counter-piracy operation Atalanta and EUCAP Nestor, the civilian-led Maritime Security Capacity building EU Mission, hosted two training sessions for Tanzanian Maritime Police and Navy in Dar es Salaam to share knowledge and experiences in fight against piracy in the Horn of Africa and Western Indian Ocean region. The practical trainings held on board the EU Naval Force flagship, FS Siroco, were carried out by experienced trainers and dealt with typical piracy related situations.

Suspect Pirates Apprehended by EU Naval Force Flagship Transferred To The Seychelles. On 29 January 2014, international collaboration in the fight against piracy resulted in the transfer of five men by the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta flagship, FS Siroco, to the Republic of Seychelles, with the aim of prosecuting them for acts of piracy. On Saturday 18 January, FS Siroco, in cooperation with Japanese assets in support of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF/CTF 151)…

On January 21, EU Naval Force warships, FS Siroco, FGS Hessen and ESPS Tornado rendezvoused at sea for a joint replenishment at sea (RAS) with the logistics American ship, USNS Joshua Humphreys from Task Force 53. The RAS saw more than 600 men and women from the EU Naval Force gathered in the same sea area in the Somali Basin, with the excellent coordination between all four ships ensuring that the refueling was carried out quickly and efficiently. On completion, the crews from EU Naval Force ships saluted the crew from USNS Joshua Humphreys and each other…

On January 18, 2014, the French EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta flagship FS Siroco in cooperation with Japanese assets released the crew of a Dhow that was suspected to have been used as pirate mother-ship. The flagship apprehended five suspected pirates believed to be responsible for an attack on an oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden a day earlier. The oil tanker issued a distress call to the UK Maritime Trade Operation (UKMTO) on the evening of Friday, January 17, reporting to be under attack.

On Friday, December 6, 2013, the French Navy ship FS Siroco joined the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta. FS Siroco will be the flagship of the European Union’s counter piracy operation off the coast of Somalia for the next four months. Rear Admiral Hervé Bléjean is the Force Commander of the 16th EU NAVFOR rotation. Commissioned in 1998, FS Siroco is a Foudre class Landing Ships Dock ( LPDH). The ship is 168 meters long and has a displacement of 12,000 metric tons. She accommodates a crew of 294 and has embarked for this operation marines and an ALIII helicopter.

Gibdock completed a complex propulsion system job, following the recent docking of the 57-ton bollard pull capacity Boluda group harbour tug Siroco. The 2001-built Siroco, which operates in the port of Algeciras, arrived in Gibraltar in early June for a one month docking that included the complete removal and overhaul of the two Voith Schneider Propeller (VSP) units onboard. As soon as the vessel was drydocked, it was jet washed with high pressure water and hand-scraped to remove marine growth in preparation for the VSP overhaul. The next task was to crop four access plates and two upright supports from the protective structure to allow access for Gibdock engineers so they could remove the VSP blades.