Commander of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) Vice Admiral Samuel Paparo of the US Navy toured the CTF 151 HQ in Bahrain, hosted by Rear Admiral Nejat Inanir, the Turkish commander of CTF 151.
Noting the multi-national composition of CTF 151, with ten countries represented in the staff, VAdm Paparo said: “Maintaining the free flow of commerce is a true international effort and I am grateful to all of your nations for providing people, ships, skills and aircraft to suppressing piracy.”
“The ongoing commitment to supporting CMF and its mandate of protecting freedom of navigation is essential in stabilizing the maritime trade economy in a world troubled by Covid-19,” he added.
Rear Admiral Inanir said: “I am delighted to show Vice Admiral Paparo our determination to delivering counter piracy operations in the region. The real strength of CTF151 is its diversity, bringing varied expertise, assets and experience to further improve maritime security.”
As the South West monsoon season draws to a close, the sea conditions become more favourable for the small fast skiffs used by pirates to attack shipping. Pirates operating in the region retain the capability and intent to conduct pirate attacks on commercial and recreational vessels and the presence of warships and a collective will to operate them in the region is key to keeping pirate activity suppressed.
Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) 