The new Commander of Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, Captain Jim Gilmour, RNZN, is building key relationships as part of the CTF mission to disrupt piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Somali basin region.
Gilmour met with Portuguese Commodore Alberto Correia, Commander of the European Union Naval Force Somalia – Operation Atalanta (Task Force 465) on board their flagship NRP Vasco Da Gama.
“Relationship building is critical to the success of CTF 151 and international efforts to disrupt piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Somali basin,” said Gilmour.
“This visit was a great opportunity to meet with another key operator in this region who clearly has a complimentary mission to our own. We have been able to share views and enhance inter-task force cooperation through this engagement.”
CTF 151 is one of three task forces operating under the US-led Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), a 25-nation coalition. CTF 151’s counter-piracy operations focus on the Gulf of Aden, Southern Red Sea, Arabian Sea and Somali basin, an area encompassing 2.5 million square miles.
CFT 151 liaises closely with a number of international partners in the region including the EU and NATO. European Union Naval Force Somalia (EUNAVFOR) – Operation Atalanta (TF 465) conducts counter-piracy operations in the region as part of their primary mission of protecting World Food Program ships travelling to and from Somalia.
CTF-151 is a mission-based multinational counter-piracy task force for Combined Maritime Forces which operates in the Southern Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Somali Basin and Arabian Sea and includes Republic of Korea, Turkey, Singapore, New Zealand, UK and the United States. This is the first time that New Zealand has led CTF-151.
Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) 