Early this morning, in the southern Indian Ocean, between the Seychelles and Mombasa a pirate group of 1 mother ship and 2 skiffs was intercepted by EU NAVFOR.
The pirates were operating in an area where an earlier attack had taken place and the Force Commander of Operation ATALANTA, RAdm Giovanni GUMIERO, tasked the French EU NAVFOR Warship FS NIVOSE to intercept and disrupt the pirate attack group, which had previously been repelled by the Vessel Protection Detachment embarked onboard a French vessel.
On the early morning of the 5th of March, EUNAVFOR Warship FS NIVOSE launched her helicopter and detected the skiffs some 350 nautical miles east of the Somali coast. The EU NAVFOR French Boarding Team, while approaching the skiffs, observed objects being thrown overboard. On arrival at the scene they found 11 suspected pirates and pirate paraphernalia in the skiffs including a rocket launcher, grappling hooks and several fuel barrels. The mother ship and one skiff have been destroyed and the suspected pirates taken into custody.
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.
The pirates were operating in an area where an earlier attack had taken place and the Force Commander of Operation ATALANTA, RAdm Giovanni GUMIERO, tasked the French EU NAVFOR Warship FS NIVOSE to intercept and disrupt the pirate attack group, which had previously been repelled by the Vessel Protection Detachment embarked onboard a French vessel.
On the early morning of the 5th of March, EUNAVFOR Warship FS NIVOSE launched her helicopter and detected the skiffs some 350 nautical miles east of the Somali coast. The EU NAVFOR French Boarding Team, while approaching the skiffs, observed objects being thrown overboard. On arrival at the scene they found 11 suspected pirates and pirate paraphernalia in the skiffs including a rocket launcher, grappling hooks and several fuel barrels. The mother ship and one skiff have been destroyed and the suspected pirates taken into custody.
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.