EU Plan Anti Piracy Operation

The European Union's anti-piracy operation to fight against Somali piracy will begin on December 8, French Defense Minister Herve Morin said Wednesday.

"We proposed to our European partners to take up this mission," said Morin. At the beginning of December, five or six warships will begin patrolling in the Gulf of Aden where pirates infest.

The operation will be contributed by several EU countries, including France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Sweden and Finland. Non-EU country Norway will also take part.

Their mission are "to escort merchant marine, to escort ships of the World Food Program and to conduct surveillance operations with navy patrol planes."

Ships of the World Food Program, which bring 30,000 to 35,000 tons of humanitarian aid to Somalis, have been repeatedly attacked by pirates.

Somali's pirates are well organized with heavy arms. Figures from the International Maritime Bureau shows, 94 boats were attacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden in this year.

Author: Jo Amey