ITS Euro exercises with Tanzanian navy

A vessel of the Italian Navy currently deployed for Operation Atalanta has taken part in counter-piracy training with personnel from the Tanzania Naval Command, the European Union Naval Force announced on 27 April.

The event saw ITS Euro, a Maestrale-class frigate of the Italian Navy, conduct a series of exercises over a three day period during a port visit to Dar Es Salaam.

Italian soldiers and their Tanzanian counterparts trained and practiced skills including boarding operations and the defusing and classification of maritime-borne explosives. They also conducted whole-ship training such as at-sea flooding repairs and simulated fire-fighting.

Operation Atalanta, or EUNAVFOR Somalia, is a counter-piracy military operation undertaken by the European Union Naval Force in the Western Indian Ocean, off the Horn of Africa. 

Conducting training with regional partners is a vital part of Operation Atalanta’s work, with the goal of improving the ability of local maritime forces to deter and disrupt acts of piracy in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.