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The Netherlands Defence organisation has deployed several ships off the coast of Somalia as part of the NATO and EU counterpiracy missions. In early June, the government decided to extend the Dutch participation by 18 months.
From September 2011 to December 2012, the Royal Netherlands Navy will provide 4 ships and a submarine for the EU’s Operation Atalanta and NATO’s Operation Ocean Shield. HNLMS Zuiderkruis and HNLMS Van Amstel are deployed for Atalanta from April through May 2012, respectively. HNLMS Tromp and HNLMS Evertsen will be deployed for Ocean Shield from May 2012 through December 2012. The submarine will be deployed to gather intelligence for Ocean Shield in the spring of 2012. During 2012, the Netherlands will provide the commander for Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) and part of the international staff of this NATO flotilla. During the periods when SNMG1 is deployed as part of Operation Ocean Shield, the Dutch commander will also have all the ships in that operation under his command.
By carrying out patrols, the navy vessels of Operation Ocean Shield improve the security of sea lanes off the Somali coast and discourage and disrupt piracy at sea in the same area. Between 20.000 and 30.000 ships pass through the Gulf of Aden each year. Pirate groups operate in an area up to almost 750 kilometres off the Somali coast. The tasks of the flotilla are:
- protection of ships using a special corridor in the Gulf of Aden and patrol operations in the Somali Basin;
- escort of ships, including UN food transports by ship;
- combating piracy activities by locating suspected pirates and, where appropriate, taking them into custody.
In order to protect extremely large and very vulnerable Dutch sea transports from attacks by Somali pirates, the Defence organisation sometimes sends military security teams as escorts for part of the ships’ voyages. These so-called Vessel Protection Detachments (VPDs) consist of heavily-armed marines.
In addition to VPDs, there is also the Autonomous Vessel Protection Detachment (AVPD). This independent team protects the humanitarian food transports of the World Food Programme against pirates and is also made up of heavily-armed marines.
The AVPD sails under the flag of the European Union’s counterpiracy mission Atalanta.
At the end of 2008, the government decided to contribute to the Atalanta mission. As of April 2010, the Netherlands also became involved in Ocean Shield. Since then, the various air-defence and command frigates, supply ships and amphibious transport ships have been operating on a rotational basis in the waters off Somalia.
The frigate HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën took part in NATO’s Operation Allied Protector from March until the end of June 2009. The ship was part of one of NATO’s standing maritime groups, combating piracy off the coast of Somalia.
In 2008, Dutch frigates were also active in this area, with HNLMS Evertsen and HNLMS De Ruyter escorting various ships for the UN World Food Programme (WFP). The deployment of the naval vessels allowed the delivery of food and other aid to Somalia to be better safeguarded. Much of the population of this African country is dependent on food aid.
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