In the late morning of 26 August the EUNAVFOR Norwegian warship HNOMS Fridtjof Nansen received an emergency call form the Italian m/v Southern Cross that she was under attack from pirates. The Southern Cross was transiting the Gulf of Aden, some 80 nautical miles south of Al Mukkala.
HNOMS Fridtjof Nansen and the helicopter of the South Korean warship Daejoyoung from CTF 151 responded directly to the situation. While the Fridtjof Nansen and the helicopter were approaching, the skiff with five people on board broke off the attack after having fired several shots to the pilot house of Southern Cross and escaped to the south.
The EU NAVFOR German warship FGS Bremen also launched her helicopter to join the search for the pirate skiff. In the afternoon FGS Bremen’s helicopter detected a suspicious skiff. HNOMS Fridtjof Nansen launched her fast rhibs with her boarding team and conducted a boarding. Weapons were seen thrown overboard. The skiff was released at dusk.
EU NAVFOR Operation Atalanta acts in accordance with United Nations Security Councils resolutions. The military operation was launched 8 December and has been extended by the European Council until December 2010.