It has been a very demanding week for the ships' crews that were engaged in several mine warfare training missions. For the detection of the decoys, the crews have been using the sonars of the ships, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV), Remote Operated Vehicles (ROV) and special divers.

#Marine Nationale #Marina Militare #Marinha Portuguesa #Armada Española

The ships FS Capricorne (France), ITS Milazzo (Italy), NRP João Roby (Portugal) and ESPS Duero (Spain) departed La Spezia to participate in the exercise Italian Minex 16. These ships are integrated in a EUROMARFOR Task Group. The photos are from the activation ceremony of the force, with representatives of the four ships and the international staff.

An EUROMARFOR Task Group composed by 1 Corvette NRP Joao Roby (the Flagship) and 3 MHC, FS Capricorne, ITS Milazzo and ESPS Duero, will be activated from the 6^th to the 18^th  of June in order to participate in the exercise Italian Minex 16.

During the last days an EUROMARFOR Task Group has been working with the Tunisian National Navy inside the Tunisia National Waters.

The ITS Borsini, NRP João Roby, ESPS Duero and TNS Hamilcon were engaged in several exercises in the domain of Maritime Security.

Held on the 2^nd of June every year, it’s one of the country’s most important holidays; up there with the 4^th of July in the US, and the 14^th of July in France. Rome Republic Day has been celebrated with a military parade at the presence of the President of the Italian Repubblic,  the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defence, the CHOD and the Chief of the Armed Forces. This parade has taken place on the Via dei Fori Imperiali.

From 31^st of May to 2^nd of June is underway a Multicooperative Exercise between EUROMARFOR and the Tunisian Navy.

The ships of EUROMARFOR (the Italian Ocean Patrol Vessel Borsini, the flagship, the Portuguese corvette João Roby and Spanish Mine Hunter Duero) arrived yesterday (31 MAY) very early in the vicinity of Tunis harbour to the “rendez-vous” with Tunisian fast patrol boat Himilcon.

From 31st of May to 2nd of June a EUROMARFOR Task Group is activated to participate in an exercise with the Tunisian Navy. The commander of the task group is Commander (Italian Navy) Giuseppe Villani assisted by an international staff.

The Portuguese corvette João Roby left the naval base and is sailing to meet other ships from France, Italy and Spain that are going to participate in the Multicooperative Exercise (MCE) with Tunisia, organized by EUROMARFOR.

The Portuguese Navy, tracing back to the 12^th century, is the oldest continuously serving navy in the world. The first known battle of the Portuguese Navy was in 1180, during the reign of Portugal's first king, Afonso I of Portugal, but the date chosen for the anniversary was 20^th of May to remember the greatest achievement of exploration voyages that were attained by Portuguese explorers, namely Vasco da Gama, who in 20^th of May of 1498 arrived to India, becoming the European discoverer of the sea route to India.

On 18 May 2016, the first of two 2016 EUROMARFOR technical Sub Working Group meeting was hosted by Italian Navy and chaired by Spanish Navy, as secretariat Nation.

On 15 May 2016, the European Maritime Force (EUROMARFOR) celebrates the 21 years of existence.

The Flagship of the Commander of EMF group for Operation Atalanta, Rear Admiral Stefano Barbieri, returned to La Spezia. The Commander of the First Italian Naval Group, Rear Admiral Francesco Sollitto, welcomed the Ship after 6 months of anti-piracy activities in the Indian Ocean.

Wednesday, 23rd of March, the Rear Admiral (Italian Navy) Stefano Barbieri handed over the EU Naval Force Somalia command to the Rear Admiral (German Navy) Jan Christian Kaack, in Djibouti. At the same moment Rear Admiral Barbieri completed his mission as EUROMARFOR Task Group Commander.

At the end of 2015, Operation Atalanta protected a UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (UNFAO) vessel, MV Kestrel, from potential pirate attack as it deployed twenty five Fishing Aggregation Devices (FADs) off the coast of Somalia.

On the 15^th of March 2016 took place in Rome a Planning Conference between EUROMARFOR Permanent Cell and a Tunisian Navy delegation in order to prepare the specifications of the multicooperative exercise with the Tunisian Navy.

Operation Atalanta’s Force Commander and Commander of EUROMARFOR Task Group, Rear Admiral Stefano Barbieri, has paid a visit to German warship, FGS Erfurt, as he prepares to hand over his command of the Atalanta Force HQ to Rear Admiral Kaack from the German Navy on Wednesday 23 March.

On Monday 7^th March 2016, ITS Carabiniere, EUROMARFOR flagship for Operation Atalanta, hosted the Italian Ambassador to Oman, during a port visit to Muscat.

ITS Carabiniere received the certificate of recognition for the support to the UN FAO

Whilst the EMF flagship for Operation Atalanta , ITS Carabiniere, was moored alongside in Dar es Salaam during the recent port visit, her crew took the opportunity to provide much-needed help in local communities.

Experts in firefighting of EMF flagship trained with Tanzanian Navy 

On 27 February, Operation Atalanta and Chinese warships conducted joint training in the Indian Ocean. The training included air operations with the ships’ embarked helicopters.