EUNAVFOR welcomes the French frigate ACONIT

On 4 January, The French frigate ACONIT and her 180 crew joined Operation ATALANTA. FS ACONIT was commissioned into the French Navy in 1999; she has a displacement of 3,200 tonnes and a length of 125 meters. She is commanded by Commander Christophe Eugene and this is her second operational deployment with Operation ATALANTA. As a flexible warship FS ACONIT is perfectly adapted to counter-piracy missions and will improve the capability of EUNAVFOR to protect vulnerable vessels, especially those of the World Food Programme. EUNAVFOR Somalia – Operation ATALANTA’s main tasks are to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the World Food Program (WFP) and vessels of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). EUNAVFOR also protects vulnerable vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, deters and disrupts piracy. EUNAVFOR finally monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia. Source: Eu Navfor