Estonia this month will end its participation in the European Union anti-piracy operation Atalanta, reports Public Broadcasting. The Estonian Defense Ministry noted that the nature of the operation has changed recently and, thus, there is no need for such ship protection teams anymore, those which worked together with military ships.
Instead, the plan is to start using so-called autonomous ship protection teams based on land. This requires more marines, a strong shore support system and strong diplomatic representation and relations with the states around the Gulf of Aden. Since contributing autonomous ship protection teams would have been much more complicated and expensive, Estonia decided to end its participation. The Estonian Navy has participated in the operation Atalanta since 2010. Five 10-member Estonian ship protection crews from Estonia participated in the operation. They were based on board German and French military ships and from there, were sent to ships that sailed along the coast of Somalia.
Via: http://www.baltictimes.com/
