On board the Italian frigate Virginio Fasan, moored in the port of Djibouti, rear-admiral Fabio Gregori of the Italian Navy left the position of Force Commander of the 465 Task Force to major general Charlie Stickland, the current operational commander operation Atalanta.
The operation Atalanta it was the first military maritime initiative established by the Council of the European Union according to two UN resolutions. It was launched in December of the 2008 in response to the growing attacks of Somali piracy against mercantile traffic, especially to the ships belonging to the "World Food Program" in transit in the waters of the Horn of Africa to deliver humanitarian aid to Somalia and Yemen.
Since then, the 465 Task Force, the European aeronaval device which, in the last five months has been commanded by Admiral Gregori, embarked on the Italian frigate, operates in the area. Virginio Fasan as a "flagship", or command post of the operation.
During the mandate, started on 27 in July of this year and ended today, the activities carried out by Nave Virginio Fasan they have been multiple and of various kinds, all times, both directly and indirectly, to counteract the worrying phenomenon of Somali piracy.
In this regard, the last period saw Nave Fasan conducting an important operation that led to the detention of six suspected Somali pirates who, on the high seas in the Indian Ocean, in the days of the 17 and November 18, had attacked a merchant ship and an ocean fishing vessel. The six suspected pirates were subsequently handed over to the Seychelles judicial authorities in accordance with the international treaties in force.
In the 132 days of operation, Nave Virginio Fasan it has carried out numerous activities mainly aimed at maintaining high deterrence against criminal organizations which are the root of the phenomenon of piracy. In this sense, numerous "Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance" missions were carried out, thanks to which it was possible to collect a lot of information regarding the activities carried out along the coasts of Somalia, observing and monitoring 170 times the areas with the highest risk of related activities. to the aforementioned phenomenon.
Similarly, during the eight stops that Nave Virginio Fasan carried out in the ports of Oman, Djibouti, Mayotte, Tanzania, Seychelles and Madagascar, various activities were carried out both of a training nature, in favor of the local police forces, and humanitarian, towards local communities.
In particular the crew carried out 29 activities of Local Maritime Capacity Building (LMCB), training 266 military police forces, such as navy and coastal guards, of 7 different countries with the aim of transmitting to them the knowledge necessary to operate independently in the fight against illegal activities including piracy.
The port stops also allowed the Italian crew to conduct CiMiC activities (Civilian and Military Cooperation) in four different African countries. The aim of these activities is to provide support in meeting the primary needs of the less wealthy civilian population of the countries visited. These activities, representing a concrete aid to the development of the local society, allow the personnel of the Italian armed forces to forge solid ties of integration and collaboration with the local institutions, favoring the acceptance of their presence and laying the foundations for a constructive intervention.
At the same time, during the operation period different training and cooperation activities were carried out with the various international missions operating in the Indian Ocean, including numerous complex exercises carried out with the units of other naval forces such as China, South Korea , India, Oman and Seychelles.
In the farewell speech, held during the assignment ceremony of the task force of the 465 Task Force, Rear Admiral Fabio Gregori expressed his most heartfelt appreciation for the work carried out for all the personnel of the aeronaval assets who had the honor of leading and that, during the mandate period, they worked every day with constancy and determination in order to pursue the goal of the mission.
Next, the operational commander of the operation Atalanta, major general Charlie Stickland, during his speech, wanted to highlight the brilliant operation, led by force commander, rear-admiral Fabio Gregori, whom I saw last November Ship Fasan stop the pirate action group operating in the Somali basin, congratulating the crew on their outstanding work.
