The Norwegian frigate “Fridtjof Nansen” is the flag ship and command center for the NATO-led anti-pirate operation Ocean Shield in the Bay of Aden and off the Horn of Africa, over the next six months.
The NATO force numbers altogether 700 men, and 170 of these are stationed on the Norwegian frigate.
In addition to the Norwegian contingent, there are also personnel from Denmark, the Netherlands, the Ukraine and USA.
Ocean Shield is an operation set up to combat the threat of piracy in the Bay of Aden and the Indian ocean, an area the size of Western Europe.
Even though 850 seamen were exposed to attacks from Somalia-based pirates in 2012, it was a reduction by nearly 80 per cent from the year before, when nearly 3900 sailors came under attack, the newspaper Vårt Land reports.
Today, around 600 seamen are held hostage by Somali pirates. [NMS Note: We assume this figure is an error, as most sources estimate the current number of hostages to be in the region of 72.]
Via: http://www.norwaypost.no/
