Spanish Navy warship ESPS Rayo, currently part of the EU mission in Africa, recently became the first EU NAVFOR ship to visit the Republic of Mauritius as she pulled into Port Louis on November 4.
During her time in the Mauritius capital, the offshore patrol vessel hosted Ambassador Marjaana Sall, head of delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Mauritius.
This was the first time that an EU NAVFOR warship had visited Port Louis, and the ESPS Rayo crew took the opportunity to demonstrate their ship’s counter-piracy capability to the authorities and Coast Guard of Mauritius. In fact, it was the first time in 30 years that a Spanish warship had visited Mauritius.
During the visit, the crew of ESPS Rayo took the opportunity to train the Mauritian Coast Guard in sessions which included friendly approaches to vessels, coupled with basic search and rescue techniques aimed at safer seas for all. The eleven Mauritian trainees remained on board ESPS Rayo for two hours, taking in the capabilities of the Spanish warship
“I am very happy to show to the Mauritians the extent of the European Union’s broad engagement in this region, in terms of Maritime Security in the Indian Ocean,” ambassador Sall said of the event. “The EU is the biggest contributor to the development of Somalia. Over £1bn Euros have been contributed to aid the country’s development and Operation Atalanta is essential in building the maritime component of that.”