On the afternoon of April 29th, Nivose, a French warship of EU NAVFOR forces found a PAG, stopped and searched their mother ship and two supporting skiffs, some 480n. m. east of the Somali Coast, EU NAVFOR press release said.
The vessels were boarded and searched. The Nivose unit found the equipments used by pirates in their attacks. The 11 Somali crew of these vessels were taken on board the Nivose. The two attack skiffs and the mother skiff were sunk.
This action continues EU NAVFOR’s aggressive stance against piracy and the intention to interdict and disrupt pirate activity. Over 40 PAGs have been disrupted in the last 2 months showing that the new strategy is working.
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.