Thursday, March 18, 2010

Maritime - Counter Piracy Mission Handover

Maritime - Counter Piracy Mission Handover: "After busy months on patrol in the Gulf of Aden and Somali Basin, a task force of NATO warships on March 12 handed over their counter-piracy mission, (Operation Ocean Shield) to the new task force of NATO ships which had sailed to the area to take up the mission. NATO warships have been conducting counter piracy patrols off the Horn of Africa, an area of strategic importance, since October 2008. On March 12 it was the turn of the five warships from the Standing NATO Maritime Group Two, who currently come from the UK (flagship), Greece, Italy, Turkey and the U.S. to pick up the baton of this ongoing mission."