Operation Ocean Shield

Operation Ocean Shield
Part of Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa
A tall plume of black smoke rises from the blue ocean waters next to a large grey battleship and a small black inflatable boat.
USS Farragut destroying a pirate skiff in the Gulf of Aden (March 2010)
Date17 August 2009 – 24 November 2016
Location
Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel, Arabian Sea, Red Sea
Result

Coalition victory

  • Number of Somali pirate attacks reduced dramatically
Belligerents

 NATO

Non-NATO:

Somali pirates

Operation Ocean Shield was NATO's contribution to Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa (OEF-HOA), an anti-piracy initiative in the Indian Ocean, Guardafui Channel, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea. It follows the earlier Operation Allied Protector. Naval operations began on 17 August 2009 after being approved by the North Atlantic Council, the program was terminated on 15 December 2016 by NATO.[4] Operation Ocean Shield focused on protecting the ships of Operation Allied Provider [de; no; ru; uk], which transported relief supplies as part of the World Food Programme's mission in the region. The initiative also helped strengthen the navies and coast guards of regional states to assist in countering pirate attacks. Notably, the Italian Military Support Base in Djibouti contributed to anti-piracy efforts as part of NATO's Operation Ocean Shield, utilizing naval vessels such as the ITS Mimbelli and ITS San Marco in the Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean, and off the coast of Somalia.[5] Additionally, China, Japan and South Korea sent warships to participate in these activities.

The US Navy was the largest contributor of ships, followed by the Indian Navy.[6][7] The taskforce was composed of ships from the contributing navies, led by a designated leadship. The role of leadship was rotated among the various countries involved. In October 2015 this was the Turkish frigate TCG Gediz.[8]

  1. ^ ""Fuerzas Militares pueden enfrentar cualquier amenaza interna o externa": Mindefensa". 28 June 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  2. ^ "New Zealand joins NATO's counter-piracy mission Ocean Shield". NATO. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  3. ^ Kozhara: Hetman Sahaidachny frigate to join NATO’s anti-piracy operation, Interfax-Ukraine (17 September 2013)
  4. ^ "Counter-piracy operations (2008-2016)". NATO.
  5. ^ North Atlantic Treaty Organization, "Counter-piracy operations (2008-2016)," NATO, last updated 19 May 2022, https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_48815.htm.
  6. ^ "Operation Ocean Shield". Manw.nato.int. Archived from the original on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  7. ^ "2009 Operation Ocean Shield News Articles". Manw.nato.int. Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  8. ^ "Operation Ocean Shield". NATO. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.