The frigate New Zealand has offered to help fight piracy off the eastern coast of Africa will depart on Monday.
HMNZS Te Mana will leave Devonport Naval Base to spend four months from October supporting the 27-nation Combined Maritime Force patrolling the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.
Before it gets there, it will first train and participate in the International Fleet Review in Sydney in October.
It operates across 6.5 million square kilometres of international waters and includes the main shipping routes from the Far East to Europe and the United States.
A New Zealand frigate was part of the operation in 2008, and in 2010 navy captain Jim Gilmour commanded a counter-piracy taskforce.
The Te Mana’s deployment was announced by the government in May.
From the middle of next year, an air force Orion maritime patrol aircraft will join the CMF for three months.
NZN
Via: http://www.3news.co.nz/
