Amisom News

European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA)’s Maritime Security Working Group met with the EU NAVFOR Somalia Operation Atalanta at their operation headquarters in Rota, Spain. Representing the European shipping industry, the ECSA delegation met with the EU NAVFOR's team to discuss the current state of piracy off the coast of Somalia. The delegation also visited the naval assets participating in Operation Atalanta.For the past ten years, EU NAVFOR has deterred and prevented acts of piracy and armed robbery off the coast of Somalia, protected vessels of the World Food Programme (WFP) and African Union Mission Somalia (AMISOM), and monitored acts of illegal fishing."While it is true that today the number of attacks is minimal…

The crew members from ESPS Rayo continued the regional cooperation EU NAVFOR has established with the AMISOM Marine unit off the coast of Mogadishu. This was the third time this year that EU NAVFOR has had the opportunity to exercise and train with AMISOM forces. This visit to Mogadishu followed on from ESPS Relampago in February and ESPS Galicia in May. The training included briefings and exercises on fire fighting, search and rescue, first aid and boarding procedures. Maritime training with regional partners, such as AMISOM, is an extremely important aspect of Operation Atalanta’s work to deter piracy off the coast of Somalia. The…

Somali al Shabaab fighters have seized a small port in the semi-autonomous Puntland region, the latest sign of a resurgence in activity by the Islamist militants in the Horn of Africa nation. A series of offensives last year by the African Union force AMISOM and the Somali National Army had driven al Shabaab out of major strongholds in the southern region of Somalia. At the time, officials said some al Shabaab fighters had moved north to the Puntland region, beyond AMISOM's area of operation. In recent weeks, al Shabaab has also retaken smaller towns and launched deadly attacks in the southern region. "Al Shabaab fighters with several boats captured Garad town," Hassan Mohamed, governor for Mudug region of Puntland told Reuters, adding that the attack took place on Monday.

At a breakfast meeting earlier today with senior shipping industry representatives, the EU Naval Force Operation Commander, Major General Martin Smith MBE, stated that whilst Somali-based piracy in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden is suppressed, there is no room for complacency regarding the ongoing threat. Major General Smith welcomed the significant reduction in pirate attacks since 2012, stating that this had been achieved by the ‘collective effort’ of shipping companies and dedicated naval forces, including the European Union Naval Force. The General warned however that whilst opportunity for pirates to get out to sea and attack ships had reduced, the pirates’ intent and capability remains.

Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS), the world’s leading maritime services provider, is celebrating the awards of ISO 22000:2005 – Food Safety Management System and ISO 9001:2008 for the company’s supply chain operations in Dubai, Mombasa and Mogadishu. Ceremonies recently took place at its global headquarters in the UK and in its regional Head Office in Dubai. As a pre-requisite to fulfilling the requirements of a three year (plus two year option) contract with the United Nations to supply the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), ISS had to meet a number of operational criteria relating to the procurement, supply chain management, transportation, warehousing and distribution of food to the Mission.

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 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.

Attendees at the IQPC Offshore Patrol Vessels Middle East 2013 conference agree that what happens at sea in the Arabian Gulf and the Middle East has implications that ripple, or more correctly rumble throughout the globe. Speakers and panelists underscored the importance of maritime domain awareness and security for military, commercial, legal and environmental reasons, and how they are all connected. The IQPC Offshore Patrol Vessel conference at the Jumeirah at Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi is being attended by naval, coast guard, security, and other maritime and military professionals.

On 26 September, the Seychelles Peoples Defense Force, Coast Guard and Air Force, together with the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta and EUCAP Nestor, carried out a search and rescue exercise in Seychelles waters. The operation was coordinated centrally by the Seychelles Coast Guard Maritime Operation Center and held in conjunction with the port visit of the Dutch EU NAVFOR flagship, HNLMS Johan de Witt, to the Seychelles. The EUCAP Nestor team in the Seychelles worked closely with the Coast Guard on the exercise and facilitated the liaison with EU NAVFOR.

The EU has announced that it will provide additional support of more than €124 million to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). This new financial support by the EU will cover costs including troop allowances for all AMISOM soldiers, police and civilian components of the mission, as well as operational costs of the mission headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. This support will be critical in allowing AMISOM to continue to fulfill its United Nations Security Council mandate to carry out active peace support operations across Somalia. Andris Piebalgs, EU Commissioner for Development said, “A safer and more secure environment in Somalia will benefit the Somali people and development of the country as a whole.

EU Naval Force welcomes French frigate FS Courbet to the EU Naval Force's operation Atalanta off the coast of Somalia. After navigating the Suez Canal and Bab-el-Mandeb strait, the French frigate FS Courbet has joined the EU Naval Force to relieve the FS Surcouf which has been on station since December 2012. The sister warships met in Djibouti for the handover. FS Courbet departed from her home base in Toulon, France, with a Panther helicopter from the French Naval Aviation 36F Flottille and a Vessel Protection Detachment (VPD) from Estonia on board.

EU NAVFOR warship FS Nivôse returned fire after being shot at, outside of Mogadishu harbor May 20. The assault immediately stopped and none of the two merchant vessels, which were tasked to escort her, were hit. Early Thursday morning, May 20, EU NAVFOR warship FS Nivôse was approaching Mogadishu, to start an escort of MS Alpha Kirawira and Petra 1, which had just unloaded supply for AMISOM, the African Union forces in Somalia. Since gunfire was heard from the town, the commanding officer (CO) and the crew on Nivôse were extra cautious that morning.

During the night of November 6, the EU NAVFOR warship SPS Infanta Cristina was attacked off the East coast of Somalia by a vessel identified as the MV IZUMI, a ship that had itself been pirated on 10 October. The EU NAVFOR warship had been escorting the MV Petra 1, which had been chartered by the African Union Military Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), at the time. This is the first ever attack on an EU warship conducting an AMISOM escort. During the incident, the Spanish warship increased speed and maneuvered immediately in order to place herself between MV Izumi and her escort.

8th December 2010 marked the 2nd anniversary of the start of Operation ATALANTA, the European Union’s Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) counter-piracy operation in the Gulf of Aden and Somali Basin. The anniversary coincided with the confirmation by the EU that the operation would be extended until December 2012. Over the past two years, the EUNAVFOR’s primary mission has been to protect United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) vessels against pirate attack by providing close escort to the ships carrying much needed humanitarian aid to Somalia.

On April 14, in a ceremony held at the Commercial Port of Djibouti, Portuguese Commodore Alberto Correia took over the command of Task Force 465 (TF 465) as the new European Union Naval Force Headquarters – Operation ATALANTA Force Commander. Commodore Correia takes over the duty from his predecessor, Spanish Rear Admiral Juan Rodriguez. During the handover, presided over by EU NAVFOR Deputy Commander, Rear Admiral Guido Rando, Commodore Correia congratulated Rear Admiral Rodriguez for the results achieved during his command and thanked him for his outstanding efforts. He emphasized that ”The mission priorities given to TF 465 are absolutely clear to me.

At first light on 12 January 2012, having just completed the escort of a World Food Programme ship carrying food-aid into Somalia and while operating close to the Somali port of Mogadishu, the EU NAVFOR Flagship, the ESPS PATINO, was approached by one skiff with a group of suspected pirates onboard. The suspected pirates opened fire with light calibre weapons and tried to board the PATINO. The ship’s force-protection team returned fire in self-defense and the ship’s helicopter was launched.

EU NAVFOR hosted a press conference on 20 February 2012 to present an update on Operation ATALANTA, piracy off the Horn of Africa and a view towards future developments. The briefing was hosted by Operation Commander Rear Admiral Duncan L. Potts with Deputy Operation Commander Rear Admiral Rainer Endres and the NATO Deputy Chief of Staff Operations, Commodore Bruce Belliveau. Countering piracy in the Indian Ocean is an international concern having become a sophisticated criminal business exploiting the geographic feature of the Gulf of Aden and the Arabic Sea.

Remarks by Andrew J. Shapiro, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, given to the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC (March 27, 2012). Thank you for inviting me here today. I want to thank the Center for American Progress [CAP] for having me here to speak on the important subject of piracy off the Horn of Africa. CAP is a tremendous leader in developing new ideas and in approaching issues in new ways. I come here before you today to talk about an issue that the Obama administration has also had to approach in new and innovative ways. Despite the romantic notions surrounding piracy of previous centuries, modern day piracy represents a new and complex threat to the international community.

Operation Atalanta (EU NAVFOR) provided protection to MV Gigante, a ship chartered for AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia) to bring supplies to the African Union peacekeeping force based in Mogadishu. The German frigate Bremen and the French frigate Guépratte took turns to carry out this mission, from the south Red Sea to Mogadishu. As with the World Food Programme vessels, protecting logistics for AMISOM is part of the mandated tasks of the EU Naval Force -  Operation Atalanta and is part of the Comprehensive Approach of the European Union in the fight against piracy.

Inchcape Shipping Serviceshas been awarded a major three year contract with the United Nations to supply food and bottled water to thousands of AMISOM troops in Somalia. The UN chose ISS as the preferred provider to deliver its food rations to the 12,000 troops currently deployed by AMISOM (The African Union Mission in Somalia). AMISOM conducts peace support operations to stabilise the country and is a regional peacekeeping mission approved by the United Nations. On signing the contract at the UN Building in New York, Jesper Steenbuch, Executive Vice President for ISS Supply Chain Solutions, said: “This award signifies ISS’ continued expansion into supply chain management and is a major milestone directly in line with our overall business strategy.

“There is definitely unimaginable change in Somalia from a war situation to an increasing peaceful situation,” says UN top envoy. “It may be more difficult, it may be more challenging, [but] we have moved from transition to transformation which entails peacebuilding [and] around it is state-building,” the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, told a news conference in Nairobi, in neighbouring Kenya, of the UN’s future role in a country that had been torn apart by more than 20 years of internecine warfare. The UN envoy paid tribute to the UN-backed African Union force in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali forces…

Piracy off Somalia’s coast is a symptom of wider problems ashore, and any strategy to tackle it must also deal with its root causes and strengthen regional capacity, the United Nations envoy to the country warned on Nov. 18. He noted that an increased maritime presence is helping to stabilize the situation on the sea but that the number of pirate attacks has not diminished. Between January and September, some 160 piracy incidents were reported in the East African area, with 34 ships being hijacked and more than 450 people taken hostage off the coast of Somalia, according to the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO). The IMO is steering the implementation of the Djibouti Code of Conduct…