Operation ATALANTA at the Horn of Africa – The german contribution to the first maritime operation of the European Union

The international community has shown that it can provide maximum protection from pirate attacks, with a coordinated use of available units, i.e. ships and aircraft, for monitoring the Gulf of Aden and the Somali Basin. The German Navy has participated in Operation ATALANTA since December 2008, so this article will evaluate the German involvement in respect to - the legal basis, quoting the respective UN Security Council Resolutions, - the tasks of Operation ATALANTA, i.e. protection of vessels of the World Food Programme and prevention and suppression of acts of piracy, - the organisational structure of ATALANTA, - the overall composition of the EU Naval Force, provided by ten EU Member States and Norway. ATALANTA is not the only operation in the region Horn of Africa / Gulf of Aden, so one chapter is dedicated to further operations: ENDURING FREEDOM, ALLIED PROVIDER / ALLIED PROTECTOR / OCEAN SHIELD, “Combined / Coalition Maritime Forces” and individual missions from countries sending out ships and / or aircraft for the protection of national interests and / or the protection of national merchant ships. It is not only the Navy engaged in the region, but there is further German engagement, with EUCAP NESTOR and European Union Training Mission (EUTM) Somalia. There are always challenges and room for improvement, so the efforts of the international community have and must continue to contribute to the stabilization of Somalia. The number of attacks, and in particular the successful hijackings, have declined since December 2008 and are almost down to zero by now. Despite all the success it must be first priority for the international community to improve conditions in Somalia. The shifting of piracy activities from the Horn of Africa to the Gulf of Guinea is discussed in the outlook.