EU NAVFOR French frigate FS FLOREAL

Sunday 6 September, the French frigate FS FLOREAL has integrated the EU NAVFOR Task Force 465, thus reinforcing EU NAVFOR presence in the area and enhancing capacity to fight against piracy.

FS FLOREAL is a 93.5 meter long frigate based in French island “La Réunion” and has a displacement of 2950 t when fully loaded. She has a crew of nearly 100.

Along with the EU NAVFOR Flagship FS DE GRASSE, she is currently the second French warship integrated in the Task Force.

EU NAVFOR Somalia – Operation ATALANTA’s main tasks are to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the World Food Program (WFP) and vessels of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). EU NAVFOR also protects vulnerable vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, deters and disrupts piracy. EU NAVFOR finally monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia.

On December 5th an EU NAVFOR Maritime Patrol Aircraft, stationed at the Seychelles, located a suspected Pirate Attack Group with one mother skiff and two attack skiffs. EU NAVFOR French warship FS Floreal was tasked to close the group and the Seychellois Coast Guard also responded to the request by sending their patrol vessel Topaz.

At first light, EU NAVFOR Maritime Patrol Aircraft relocated the suspected Pirated Attack Group and directed both vessels to that position. On arrival of the Coast Guard vessel, the helicopter of FS Floreal assisted the Topaz crew with the intercept and securing the area. Eleven suspected pirates were arrested by the Seychellois Coast Guard and all pirate related paraphernalia was seized; two attack skiffs were destroyed.

FS Floreal and the Maritime Patrol Aircraft take part in the EUNAVFOR mission Operation ATALANTA. The main tasks of Operation ATALANTA are to escort merchant vessels carrying food of the ‘World Food Program’ (WFP), the protection of vulnerable ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean and to deter and disrupt piracy.

Rear Adm Hudson inspects Kenyan Naval Guard

From 29 Nov to 2 Dec, Rear Admiral Peter Hudson Operational Commander of EU NAVFOR Somalia – Operation Atalanta, visitied Djibouti and Kenya to say thank you to the authorities for their cooperation in fighting piracy and for their excellent support to EU NAVFOR. In Djibouti Admiral Hudson met a number of Djiboutian officials and agreed further cooperation and information sharing. He also met UNHCR and was also able to review the facilitites at the French military base where the EU NAVFOR Maritime Patrol aircraft are based.

On flying to Nairobi, the Admiral met Kenyan officials and expressed his gratitude for the exemplary role played by Kenya in anti piracy. He also met with representatives from the World Food Programme, UNODC and UNSOA culminating in discussions with Swedish Ambassador Ann Dismor (Sweden holds the EU Presidency) and he also attended EU Heads of Mission meeting at the Embassy.

In Mombasa, Admiral Hudson was invited to meet the Kenyan Navy where he praised the effort of the Kenyan military for their support to EU NAVFOR for the anti piracy effort. Agreements were concluded to take Kenyan Naval Officers to sea in EU NAVFOR warships and the MPRA offered by Kenya on a previous visit by Adm Hudson would be starting operations within a few days. (See future press release)

Admiral Hudson concluded his visit to Africa by hosting a press conference onboarda the EU NAVFOR French ship FLOREAL that was visiting Mombasa at the time. In an address to the ships company of FLOREAL, Admiral Hudson stated “well done for the excellent contribution that you are making to the fight against piracy.”

Postscript: 2 days after this address, FLOREAL played a central role in the capture of eleven pirates off the Seychells.

Picture gallery

Flag of the European Union

On Thursday 12 November, the EU NAVFOR French warship Floreal tracked down and apprehended the pirate attack group responsible for the recently reported attacks 500 miles north west of the Seychelles.

After previous attacks were reported on 10 and 11 November, and in particular the attempted hijacking of the BW Lion, the French warship Floreal was tasked to sanitize the area of the attacks. A EU NAVFOR Maritime Patrol aircraft from the Seychelles found the pirate attack group and guided the Floreal onto their position. The Floreal found the pirate mother ship and two attack skiffs some 500 miles north west of the Seychelles and 650 miles east of Hobyo, a pirate stronghold on the coast of Somalia.

The pirates tried to dispose of weapons, ladders and other pirate paraphernalia but the Floreal was able to seize weapons, grappling hooks  and other equipment that left the ship in no doubt as to their intentions to carry out pirate attacks. French ship Floreal has taken the suspected pirates into custody.

Automatic weapons and Rocket Propelled Grenades were fired. With increasing speed and evasive maneuvers the master managed to evade the attack. No casualties were reported.

On indication of the attack an EU NAVFOR Luxemburg Maritime Patrol Aircraft, operating from the Seychelles was tasked to localize these pirates and to investigate possible further pirate activity in the vicinity of the attack position. The EU NAVFOR French warship FS Floreal was the closest available warship.

FS Floreal and the Maritime Patrol Aircraft take part in the EU NAVFOR mission Operation ATALANTA. The main tasks of Operation ATALANTA are to escort merchant vessels carrying food of the ‘World Food Program’ (WFP), the protection of vulnerable ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean and to deter and disrupt piracy.

FGS SPESSART refuelling at Sea

Two German ships from NATO have joined Op Atalanta in the Gulf of Aden this week; the frigate FGS EMDEN and the tanker FGS SPESSART. The vessels have been detached from NATO’s Standing Naval Maritime Group One (SNMG1) which is on deployment to the Far East and are expected to remain under EU NAVFOR’s command until the end of April.

This weekend another German warship, the FGS RHEINLAND-PFALZ will escort EU NAVFOR’s 19^th World Food Program shipment into Mogadishu. This will bring the total tonnage delivered to Somalia to over 120,000 – enough to feed over 2 million displaced people every day since Op Atalanta was established last December.

Last weekend the EU NAVFOR French ship FS FLOREAL was involved in recovering a large skiff that was stranded in the Gulf of Aden carrying approximately 100 refugees. The warship assisted those onboard with humanitarian aid and towed the vessel to the Port of Aden to be handed over to the Yemeni coastguard and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

In a separate operation the French Warship FS GEORGES LEYGUES, which is temporarily attached to EU NAVFOR, rescued the crew from the 4,000 tonne MV Sibley 1 which caught fire and sank 350 miles off the coast of Tanzania on Saturday. The 31 man crew were then transferred to the FS JEANNE D’ ARC, which is also attached to EU NAVFOR and currently en route to Djibouti.

The vessel was not part of a group transit and neither its owner nor operator are currently registered with MSC(HOA).

Op Atalanta protecting merchant shipping

Op Atalanta protecting merchant shipping

The video footage of Op Atalanta ship FS FLOREAL capturing suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden can be found at the link here.

The BBC Radio 4 interview with Op Atalanta Commander, Rear Admiral Phil Jones, can be found at the link here.

The warship used its helicopter to fire warning shots at the boats when they refused to stop, before launching its boarding party in sea boats to arrested the suspects and confiscate their equipment.

The footage of this incident will be available on the EU website shortly:

http://consilium.europa.eu/showPage.asp?id=1533&lang=EN

Earlier this week the MV BISCAGLIA and her crew were freed from pirate control and two further ships are awaiting release after ransoms were paid. This will bring the total number of hostages held to below 150.

The recent change in the weather has seen a marked increase in pirate activity and as a result a German Liquid Gas Tanker LONGCHAMP with its 13 man crew was regrettably hijacked by seven pirates early yesterday morning.

As many companies continue to enrol with MSCHOA, owners and operators are encouraged to also register their vessels’ movements on the site so a proper assessment can be made of the risks they face and appropriate protection measures taken.