EU NAVFOR HNLMS Johan de Witt has effectively blocked known pirate camp on the Somali coast from access to the open sea.
As an amphibious ship, HNLMS Johan de Witt is able, from a dock within the ship, to launch a number of smaller vessels, LCVPs (Landing craft for vehicle and personnel transport), that can provide a blockading role on selected known pirate areas of the Somali coast.
Under orders from the Swedish EU NAVFOR Force Headquarters Ship Carlskrona, the warship Johan de Witt was positioned on the Somali coast to provide surveillance and reconnaissance patrols with the aim of gaining useful information while restricting and interdicting pirate movement on the coast. With the onset of the monsoon, increasingly poor weather conditions making pirate activities very difficult, creating an urgency amongst the pirates to get to sea quickly.