On Monday 23 April Dutch warship HNLMS Van Amstel, who is participating in the EU’s counter piracy mission – Operation Atalanta, hosted a media event during a port visit to Dar es Salaam. The successful media event was organized to highlight the EU Naval Force’s (EU NAVFOR) efforts to fight against piracy along the East African coast and also the support given to humanitarian operations in the region. During her time with EU NAVFOR HNLMS Van Amstel has escorted two merchant vessels chartered by the World Food (WFP) programme to deliver food to Somalia.
The Dutch Ambassador in Tanzania introduced the media event, followed by presentations from the country director of WFP in Tanzania on the challenges of supporting people in the Horn of Africa and Tanzania, and the Commanding Officer of HNLMS Van Amstel on the counter piracy efforts by EUNAVFOR. Finally the EU Ambassador in Tanzania highlighted the growing collaboration between the European Union and the Tanzanian Government
On completion of the presentations, the journalists were given a guided tour of the warship whilst military personnel from the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF) were trained in damage control and basic life saving procedures by members of HNLMS Van Amstel’s crew.
On Tuesday 24 April 22 members of the TPDF also had the unique opportunity to sail with HNLMS Van Amstel for the day. It was their first time they had sailed on a navy ship, with demonstrations given to show HNLMS Van Amstel capabilities. After lunch the military were picked up by a patrol vessel to return to Dar Es Salaam and HNLMS Van Amstel returned to her counter piracy patrols as part of Operation ATALANTA.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff , April 27, 2012; Image: eunavfor