June 2018

The commitment and cooperation of partners remains important to ensure maritime security in the region and ongoing high level meetings provides a platform for common understanding and further developments.

EU NAVFOR welcomes the announcement of the publication of BMP5. In addition we welcome the launch of  Global Counter Piracy Guidance. These documents have and will continue to contribute to the security and safety of merchant shipping  transiting the High Risk Areas off the Horn of Africa.

The crews of ITS Margottini and ESPS Meteoro maintain watch 24 hours a day ready to respond to piracy incidents off the Horn of Africa; there hasn’t been one minute where EU NAVFOR sailors have not been on duty over the last 9 years of the operation.

Two-thirds of all refugees come from just five countries - Somalia, Myanmar, South Sudan, Afghanistan and Syria. EU NAVFOR joins the United Nations Refugee Agency in recognising World Refugee Day, to commemorate the strength, courage and perseverance of millions of refugees.

In the spirit of fostering continued cooperation between international partners and to support counter-piracy operations in the region, US tanker USNS Bighorn has conducted a Replenishment At Sea with EU NAVFOR Spanish warship ESPS Meteoro.

Cooperation and partnerships remain critical to the success of Operation Atalanta.

Cooperation is vital in order to deter piracy and to protect vulnerable shipping, such asWorld Food Programme vessels. European warships often transit the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden conducting maritime patrols, and this gives them the opportunity to directly support EU NAVFOR.

On 6th June EU NAVFOR’s Deputy Commander Rear Admiral Nanclares visited Montenegro and was welcomed by Chief of General Staff, Brigadier General Ilija Daković.

EU NAVFOR champions the cooperation and coordination of efforts with civilian and military partners to combat piracy; events such as the recent Counter-Piracy Exercise with the Multi-National Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) demonstrate this.

Today is #worldoceansday and the deterrence of piracy will reduce the threat to seafarers off the coast of Somalia, enabling uninterrupted transit of maritime trade through the economically important sea-lanes around the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden.

Whilst piracy off the coast of Somalia has been repressed it has not gone away. The threat continues and so the need for EU NAVFOR to be ready and capable continues.