EU’s Anti-Piracy Operation Extended

EU’s Anti-Piracy Operation “Operation Atalanta”, has been extended to end of 2020 with European shipowners welcoming the extension.

On July 30, the European Council decided to extent the mandate of EU NAVFOR Somalia’s operation until December 31, 2020.

The objectives of the Operation Atalanta are deterrence, prevention and repression of acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast and the protection of the World Food Program (WFP) and other vulnerable shipping, fishing activities and EU missions and programs in the region.

Martin Dorsman S, ECSA’s Secretary General said, “The naval presence of the EU NAVFOR Operation Atalanta and the cooperation with other international forces, has strongly contributed to the dramatic decrease in piracy attacks in this region”.

The number of attacks off the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean has decreased from 176 in 2011 to 9 in 2017, while no incident was reported during the second quarter of 2018.