Croatia deploys first AVPD team to ATALANTA
The first Croatian Autonomous Vessel Protection Detachment (AVPD) was deployed to the EU-led ATALANTA operation in Somalia, for a 3-month period onboard the Cyprus’s MSM “Douro” vessel.
The team, commanded by Lieutenant (N) Nenad Kontri is composed of 12 members, mostly of the Croatian Navy and two members of the Support Command and the Special Operations Battalion .
It has been assigned with security and protection of merchant vessels supplying the local population within the World Food Programme. The team will operate onboard the vessels during navigation, at ports and at anchorage, providing security and protection for the vessels from pirate attacks, robberies and hijacks at sea and in ports
Due to frequent pirate attacks against the vessels supplying Somalia, the UN World Food Programme and the European Union concluded an agreement on EU NAVFOR Somalia-Atalanta providing protection for the UN aid vessels.
Until 2012 the vessels were protected by war ships deployed in the area, which in mid 2012 were superseded by protection teams onboard the vessels. No vessel under the protection of the „EU NAVFOR Somalia – ATALANTA“ has come under attack by pirates, and the humanitarian aid (cca 880 000 tons) has been provided to the locals.
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