The European Union announced on Saturday that Spain has taken over command of the naval operation “Atalanta” to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia.
The operation, called Atalanta, is part of an ongoing effort to secure the Somali coast, a strategic location in the Horn of Africa.
In a statement, the Atalanta operation said that Spanish Admiral Francisco Javier Vázquez Sanz had taken over the command, replacing Italian Admiral Davide Da Pozzo.
The handover ceremony took place aboard the Italian ship “Rizzo” in the main port of Djibouti.
Operation Atalanta was launched in 2008 to protect commercial and World Food Programme vessels from pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia, a key hub for international maritime trade.
