Charlie Stickland, the Operational Commander Major General of EU NAVFOR (EU Naval Forces), met with Mr. Kitack Lim, Secretary-General of the IMO, on 11 May at IMO Headquarters in London. At the meeting, General Stickland updated Mr. Lim on EU NAVFOR’s counter-piracy Operation Atalanta.
The discussion was broad ranging in nature, covering the military assessment of the Somali piracy threat, Somalia capacity building progress, as well as the range of maritime security threats facing the international shipping community in the Southern Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Western Indian Ocean area.
Operation Atalanta was launched on 8 December 2008 and is conducted in accordance with United Nations Security Council’s resolutions. The Operation has been extended by the European Council until December 2018 and has the following objectives:
- Protects vessels of the World Food Programme (WFP) and other vulnerable shipping.
- Deters and disrupts piracy and armed robbery at sea.
- Monitors fishing activities off the coast of Somalia.
- Supports other EU missions and international organisations working to strengthen maritime security and capacity in the region.
The civil-military partnership has been a cornerstone of the success in containing the piracy threat in the region and both leaders stressed the importance of sustaining this partnership for the benefit of the region, the maritime community, including shipping delivering humanitarian aid, as well as for global trade.
