December 2010

On the 30 December the Spanish Frigate F-86 Canarias, for the second time, joined EUNAVFOR.

During the morning of 25 December, the Taiwanese owned fishing vessel FV Shiuh Fu No 1 reported being under pirate attack, approximately 120 nautical miles off the North-East tip of the island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.

The French Destroyer MONTCALM joined the EUNAVFOR Task Force on the 22 December.

At 1330Z on 28 December 2010, the MV MARIDA MARGUERITE was released from pirate control.

In the early hours of 27 December, the MV EMS RIVER was pirated approximately 175 nautical miles North East of the port of Salalah, Oman.

In the early hours of 25 December, the MV THOR NEXUS was pirated approximately 450 nautical miles North East of the island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean.

During the night of the 22 December, the MV THOR NAUTILUS defeated a pirate attack thanks to the use of BMP (Best Management Practices), proving once again the efficiency of self-protection measures in th

The French frigate FLOREAL finished as an EUNAVFOR warship on the 20 December after 105 days flying the European Flag.

The crew member of the hijacked vessel MV Hannibal II, who was released by pirates on the 17th of December, has arrived at the Bouffard hospital in Djibouti after being treated for a suspected appendicitis.

At midday on 20 December, the MV ORNA was pirated in the Indian Ocean, approximately 400 nautical miles North East of the Seychelles.

 In the early morning of 17 December, the Combined Maritime Force (CMF) joined forces with EUNAVFOR to evacuate a crew member from the MV Hannibal II after reports were received that he had a possible appendicitis.

On 16 December 2010, at 0250 UTC, the Marshall Island-flagged Tanker HELLESPONT TRINITY was unsuccessfully attacked by one skiff in the Indian Ocean, approximately 220 nautical miles West of Angria Bank, India.

On 15 December, the EUNAVFOR Greek warship HS ADRIAS completed operating under EUNAVFOR, after more than three months working in Operation ATALANTA.

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 woul

At a ceremony in Djibouti on board the EUNAVFOR French warship, FGS DE GRASSE, Rear Admiral (FR) Philippe Coindreau, who has been the Force Commander of EUNAVFOR Operation ATALANTA for the last four months, handed over to Rear Admiral Juan Rodriguez of Spain.

On 14 December 2010, EUNAVFOR Flagship FS DE GRASSE fulfilled her last day of operations after 4 months conducting counter-piracy activities in the Gulf of Aden and the Somali Basin. 

On 10 December 2010, the MV UNITED STAR reported it was under attack, approximately 500 nautical miles North East of Salalah (Oman).

On 12 December, FS JACOUBET and her 89 crewmembers joined Operation ATALANTA. FS JACOUBET is a French frigate that has entered service with the French Navy in 1982. She has a displacement of 1,175 tons and a length of 80 meters.

In the early hours of 11 December, the MV RENUAR was pirated in the Indian Ocean, approximately 1050 nautical miles east of the Somali coastal village of Eyl and a distance of 550 nautical miles from the coast of India.

On 11 December 2010, the Liberian-flagged MV ELENI P was released from pirate control.

On the afternoon of 10 December, the MV PANAMA was pirated by 2 armed skiffs with a total of 5 pirates on board.  A Rocket Propelled Grenade was used during the attack which occurred approximately 80 nautical miles east of the Tanzanian/Mozambique border.

On 8 December 2010, EUNAVFOR’s capacity has been reinforced with the arrival of the Spanish ship SPS PATINO in the area of operations.

On 8 December, the EUNAVFOR Spanish warship SPS INFANTA CRISTINA completed operating under EUNAVFOR, after four months working on Operation ATALANTA.

On 7 December 2010, the Saudi Arabian flagged Product tanker MV AL NISR AL SAUDI was released from under pirate control.

The MV FATHIL RABI, chartered by the World Food Program (WFP), was safely escorted by the two EUNAVFOR warships HS ADRIAS and FGS HAMBURG over the last 2 weeks, helping in the delivery of 2,397 metric tons of food to Somalia.

On 2 December, the EUNAVFOR Spanish ship SPS INFANTA CRISTINA located a drifting dhow towing a small skiff in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) in the Gulf of Aden.

Since 24 November, Estonia has contributed to the fight against piracy off the Somalia coast with the provision of a Vessel Protection Detachment (VPD).

On 5 December, the MV JAHAN MONI was pirated in the Somali Basin, approximately 1300 nautical miles East of Eyl (Somalia), and only 300 nautical miles from the Indian coast.

On 3 December, ITS ZEFFIRO and her 225 crewmembers joined Operation ATALANTA.

On 30 November, the EU NAVFOR German ship FGS RHOEN conducted her last day of operations as an EU NAVFOR unit, after 102 days of counter-piracy activities in the Gulf of Aden and the Somali Basin.

On 30 November, the EU NAVFOR Italian warship ITS LIBECCIO completed operating under EU NAVFOR, after more than four months working on Operation ATALANTA.

On 30 November 2010, the MV KYTHIRA reported it was under attack, more than 1,100 nautical miles (2,000 kilometres) East of Eyl, on the Somali coast.

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne commended the efforts of all those involved in helping to combat piracy in Seychelles during visits made yesterday to meet representatives from EU NAVFOR and the Seychelles Coastguard.