PIRACY: Gulf of Aden - Sunday, March 8, 2009
Norway announced that it will dispatch a warship to join the EU's anti-piracy operation "Atalanta" in the Gulf of Aden.

Norway will be deploying a Nansen Class frigate to the Gulf of Aden this summer to help preventing the piracy acts that have endangered commercial shipping in the Gulf of Aden in which around 1000 Norwegian ships pass through annually.

The Norwegian Frigate will provide direct logistical support to the Atalanta task force and strengthen Norway’s humanitarian and political efforts in Somalia.

Norway thus follows in the steps of Sweden, which announced in February that Sweden will deploy two corvettes and one support ship along with a security force to the Gulf of Aden to help Operation Atalanta. Norway and Sweden will then be the third Nordic country to deploy warships to the Gulf of Aden, as Denmark have had a warship deployed since the beginning of 2008.