During a visit by the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) flagship to Salalah, Oman on 1 September 2012, the Force Commander - Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino, met a number of important representatives from the local authorities.
Rear Admiral Credendino met the Deputy Commander of the Omani Southern Naval Area, Commander Khalfan Abdullah Al Breki and the Commander of Police and Coast Guard, Brigadier General Musallam bin Salem Al Junaibi. In both the meetings the importance of cooperation between EU NAVFOR assets employed in counter-piracy Operation Atalanta and the Omani Maritime Authorities was reinforced.
Speaking during the visit, Rear Admiral Credendino stated “Omani territorial waters continue to be affected by the phenomenon of piracy and we recognize that a strong cooperation between us is very important.”
Force Commander also met Vice Chairman of Salalah Port, Mr. Ahmed bin Ali Akaak. Then he was welcomed by the office of Deputy Governor of Dhofar, H.E. Shaikh Abdullah bin Saif Ali Mahrooqi.
During the visit, Rear Admiral Credendino also went on board NATO warship HNLMS Rotterdam – the flagship of NATO’s counter-piracy Operation “Ocean Shield”, who was also conducting a port visit. He was welcomed by Dutch Commodore Ben Bekkering.
It was the second time in a few days that the Force Commander of EU NAVFOR and the Force Commander of NATO - Ocean Shield met, following the “Big Three” meeting at sea, onboard ITS San Giusto on August the 24th and with the further participation of CTF-151 Commander, Rear Admiral Anho Chung.