The European Union on Monday formally launched an anti-piracy security operation off the coast of Somalia — its first-ever naval mission — the EU’s French presidency said.
The mission, dubbed Operation Atlanta, was endorsed by the bloc’s defence ministers at talks in Brussels. EU ships will also help protect United Nations and other vulnerable vessels seeking to transport aid into strife-torn Somalia.
The so-called Eunavor operation will be made up of at least seven ships, including three frigates and a supply vessel. It will also be backed by surveillance aircraft.
The mission will be run from a headquarters at Northwood, north of London, with contributions from France, Germany, Greece, The Netherlands and Spain, with Portugal, Sweden and non-EU nation Norway also likely to take part.
The EU initiative was taken after Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed urged Somalis and the international community to combat rising piracy off the lawless nation’s waters.
Last month, a maritime watchdog said Somali pirates were now responsible for nearly a third of all reported attacks on ships, often using violence and taking hostages.
The International Maritime Bureau said 63 of the 199 piracy incidents recorded worldwide in the first nine months of this year occurred in the waters off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.
The Somalian figure is almost double that of the same period last year.
Piracy is rife and well organised in the region where Somalia’s north-eastern tip juts into the Indian Ocean, preying on a key maritime route leading to the Suez Canal through which an estimated 30% of the world’s oil is transported.
The pirates operate high-powered speedboats and are heavily armed, sometimes holding ships for weeks until they are released for large ransoms paid by governments or owners.
India, Russia and Nato nations have also sent ships to the area on anti-piracy duties. — AFP
