EU NAVFOR thanks Swedish warship HSwMS CARLSKRONA after 7 months of operations

On 14 November 2010, HSwMS CARLSKRONA fulfilled her last day of operations as an EU NAVFOR warship after 7 months conducting counter-piracy activities in the Gulf of Aden and the Somali Basin.  

Rear-Admiral Philippe Coindreau, EU NAVFOR Force Commander, expressed his great satisfaction for everything that the crew has achieved.  Among the various tasks that the HSwMS CARLSKRONA fulfilled whilst deployed was the escort of six vessels chartered by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and five vessels chartered by the World Food Program. During her time on the operation, the ship and crew helped deliver 17,859 tons of humanitarian aid to Somalia.

In his farewell speech, the Force Commander said: “I am convinced that your proactive role and your engagement in this operation have had a great impact on the counter-piracy mission led by the European Union.”

The Swedish HSwMS CARLSKRONA, with its 120 crewmembers, served as an EU NAVFOR warship from 14 August to 14 November 2010. Before that, she operated as EU NAVFOR Flagship from 14 April to 14 August 2010. She is now heading home to Sweden. 

EU NAVFOR Swedish warship HSwMS CARLSKRONA escorting MV PETRA 1

On 18 October, the EU NAVFOR Swedish warship HSwMS CARLSKRONA completed another grouped escort for both the World Food Program (WFP) and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

During three days the MV PETRA I (AMISOM) and the MV MASAR TRADE (WFP) were successfully protected by the warship from Mombasa in Kenya, to Mogadishu in Somalia. The two vessels arrived safely at their destination with humanitarian aid and other logistic supplies. More than 6,700 metric tons food (maize and pulses) were notably delivered onto the Somali shore.

“What we are doing here is very important. Personally I’m very satisfied with our mission and what we do for the people of Somalia”, says LT Victor Lundqvist, a combat information officer onboard HSwMS CARLSKRONA.

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.

More stories about EU NAVFOR escorts:

-          WFP escort by EU NAVFOR Dutch ship HNLMS AMSTERDAM

-          EU NAVFOR visits WFP headquarters in Rome, Italy

-          AMISOM escort by EU NAFOR Italian ship ITS LIBECCIO

-          WFP and AMISOM escort by EU NAVFOR French ship DE GRASSE

-          WFP and AMISOM escorts by EU NAVFOR FS DE GRASSE and FGS SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN

HSwMS Carlskrona supports a dhow in distress

On 24 September, a dhow was found in the East part of the Gulf of Aden and seemed to be drifting with the wind.

The EU NAVFOR Swedish ship HSwMS CARLSKRONA established contact with the small boat thanks to the interpreters stationed onboard the warship, before sending its boarding team.

The dhow’s ten crew members were on their way back to Yemen. They had however run out of fuel. HSwMS CARLSKRONA therefore offered assistance and her boarding team brought enough food, water and fuel for the crew to sail to Yemen safely.

EU NAVFOR Swedish warship HMS CARLSKRONA visiting a Pakistani dhow

On 16 September, EU NAVFOR Swedish warship HSwMS CARLSKRONA visited a dhow in its area of responsibility.

After contact between the warship and the dhow by VHF-radio, the small merchant ship was visited by HSwMS CARLSKRONA’s boarding team. The crew of the Pakistani dhow was reminded the importance to report any suspicious activity, as well as the importance of self protection measures. 

These kind of friendly visits on board non suspected vessels are crucial to collect information about piracy and help create an understanding of EU NAVFOR in the area.

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

HSwMS CARLSKRONA

Swedish warship HSwMS CARLSKRONA handed over EU NAVFOR Flagship duties to French destroyer FS DE GRASSE on 14 August 2010 and started a three-week maintenance period. She is now back at sea with other EU NAVFOR warships, patrolling the IRTC.

HSwMS CARLSKRONA is an important asset for the Task Force. Notably, she has outstanding medical facilities, a skilled boarding team and can act as a helicopter platform. “Even though some of the crew has changed, HSwMS CARLSKRONA will continue being very efficient as she already has a very good situational awareness and a lot of experience in the fight against piracy”, said Force Commander Rear-Admiral Philippe Coindreau.

With HSwMS CARLSKRONA coming back to operations with EU NAVFOR, the Task Force now has 11 warships in its fleet, with common objectives: escort vessels carrying humanitarian aid for the World Food Program (WFP) and vessels of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM); protect vulnerable vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean; deter and disrupt piracy; and finally monitor fishing activity off the coast of Somalia.

The Swedish lead of EU NAVFOR – operating in the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden and the southern Red Sea – is now half way through the time of its rotation. In mid-April, Admiral Jan Thörnqvist took command over the EU fleet off Somalia and became the first Swedish Force Commander to lead an EU-mission. Everything is not “hunting pirates” even if that gets more headlines. So far under Swedish leadership The EU Task Force has conducted eight escorts for the UN agency World Food Programme (WFP) and 13 escorts of the African Union’s peacekeeping operation in Somalia (AMISOM).

“It is important that we solve our main tasks, to escort WFP ships with humanitarian aid to Somalia’s 1.6 million internally displaced persons and to escort the AMISOM transports”, notes Force Commander Jan Thörnqvist.

The Swedish admiral and his multinational Force Headquarters, FHQ, have seen both successes and tough challenges. The fact that the new more proactive EU NAVFOR-tactics are successful is proven by statistics; In the first two months, the force managed to disrupt or prevent piracy at about 15 times and a dozen pirate ships, with equipment and weapons, were destroyed or seized by the EU NAVFOR.

A tough challenge in the first period of 2010 has been that the pirates are further out in the Indian Ocean, sometimes closer to India than Somalia. One example is the hijacking April 18, as far as 1200 nautical mil east of the coast of Somalia. Compared to the same period a year ago, data suggest two things: the total number of pirate attacks have increased by 150 percent, but the number of completed hijackings dropped by 25 percent.

“Pirates recruit more young men who are sent further out on the high seas. Their plan is apparently to make a large number of attacks over a larger area, but we are often able to disrupt them before they complete a hijack,” says Admiral Thörnqvist.

FORCE COMMANDER JAN THÖRNQVIST

 Now in June and July, the monsoon is increasing and it becomes more difficult for pirates to operate east of Somalia, in the Indian Ocean and for some time the focus moves north, to the more sheltered Gulf of Aden.

“From a Swedish perspective, we note that HSwMS Carlskrona has worked very well as Flag ship and the new Swedish helicopter, Agusta 109 LUH, has shown a higher availability than we counted on in this tough climate. We also realised that having a helicopter on board is a requirement for the full use of the unit in this type of operation”, explains Force Commander Jan Thörnqvist.

EU NAVFOR Spanish warship SPS Victoria

Today at 1010 local time, the hijacked Libyan owned merchant vessel RIM reported that the crew had successfully retaken control of the ship.  One of the crew members was seriously injured during the incident.

The incident took place south east of Garacad, off Somalia’s northern coastline.  The closest EU NAVFOR warship, the SPS VICTORIA, was immediately tasked by the Force Commander Jan Thörnqvist, to meet up with MV RIM in order give medical assistance. SPS VICTORIA launched her helicopter immediately.

Confusing reports that the ship had been pirated again came prior to the helicopter reaching the scene of the incident.  It was quickly established that the crew were in control of the vessel.  There were however, pirates in the vicinity who were attempting to impede the EU NAVFOR operation by utilising another hijacked vessel the MV VOC DAISY. When SPS VICTORIA’s helicopter approached the MV VOC DAISY she changed her course – no warning shots were fired.

It is believed that some of the pirates were killed during the incident; the ship is now under the control of the crew.

EU NAVFOR is monitoring the situation and more information will be released as it becomes available.

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

EU NAVFOR Force Commander Rear Admiral Jan Thornqvist (left) presents the EU NAVFOR crest to Rear Admiral Beom Rim Lee

The EU NAVFOR Force Commander hosted the Force Commander of Task Force 151, the Combined Maritime Force off Somalia, on board the EU NAVFOR Flag Ship HSwMS Carlskrona on Monday 31 May 2010.  The Force Commanders expressed content with the very good level of co-operation between the two forces and agreed on further development.

The Force Commander of Combined Maritime Force (CMF) Task Force 151, Rear Admiral Beom Rim Lee expressed his satisfaction regarding the good level of co-operation between the forces off Somalia.  He also expressed hope for enhanced co-operation with the single-nation forces in the area – China, India, Japan and Russia.

Discussions took place on anti piracy operations in the Somali Basin and the Gulf of Aden, as well as on the coordination of the forces patrolling in the IRTC (the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor).  Both commanders expressed content with the level of co-operation with the third multinational force; the NATO Task Force 508.

The possibility of exchange officers between the two forces was also discussed; EU NAVFOR Force Commander Rear Admiral (LH) Jan Thörnqvist welcomed the idea as a way of further developing the relationship between the forces. The issue will be discussed further.

Force Commander TF 151 Rear Admiral Beom Rim Lee and his delegation were given a tour of the flag ship and the EUNAVFOR Force Headquarters Maritime Operations Centre (FHQ MOC), of particular interest was the helicopter solution on board HSwMS Carlskrona.

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

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Spanish OPV Vencedora during escort mission

After two months of excellent performance in EU NAVFOR the Spanish Ocean Patrol Vessel (OPV) ESPS Vencedora returns to home base.

She contributed with high standards in all tasks but mostly in the primary task; escorting WFP and AMISOM transports 84 percent of her time! Vencedora also executed reconnaissance patrolling along the Somalia coast and provided protection to shipping through the IRTC in the Gulf of Aden.

The Force Commander Rear Admiral (LH) Jan Thörnqvist greeted the Commanding officer of ESPS Vencedora, Commander Ricardo Fernandez Lopez, in a special farewell-signal and stated:
“ESPS Vencedora has done a great job in Operation Atalanta and you and your crew have always shown admirable spirit, reliability and professionalism in accomplishing your tasks and challenges.”
Admiral Thörnqvist also praised ESPS Vencedoras crew for high performance and outstanding stamina. Their dedication and specialization in escorts allowed other EUNAVFOR units to increase the pressure outside the pirate camps during this inter-monsoon period.

ESPS Vencedora captured two suspected pirates (SP) who were found in a whaler with engine problems. One of the SPs required to be treated of a serious infectious injury. They were later transferred to another ship and then released. She also carried out a few friendly approaches to Indian and Yemeni dhows in the Area of Operation.

ESPS Vencedora hasn’t operated beyond the Suez Canal since the first Gulf War in 1991. She is also believed to have been the first Spanish warship to visit Tanzania since it’s independence in 1961. During the two months spent in the Area of Operation the Spanish Ocean Patrol Vessel was at most 5 800 nautical miles from her home base in Canary Islands.

“Satisfaction is the common feeling within crew members as we provided food and stability to the region which someday will allow Somalia to reach prosperity and long-lasting peace”, the XO Lieutenant Commander Guevara Romero concludes.

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

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