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EU Navfor

On the afternoon of 10 December, the MV PANAMA was pirated by 2 armed skiffs with a total of 5 pirates on board.

A Rocket Propelled Grenade was used during the attack which occurred approximately 80 nautical miles east of the Tanzanian/Mozambique border.

This extreme southerly attack in the Somali Basin is a further example of the constantly expanding area of pirate activity.

The MV PANAMA is a Liberian flagged container ship, operated by a US based company, with a crew of 23 (all from Myanmar). She was en route from Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) to Beira (Mozambique) when the attack occurred. There is no news of the condition of the crew and EUNAVFOR are monitoring the situation.

EU NAVFOR Somalia - Operation ATALANTA's main tasks are to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the World Food Program (WFP) and vessels of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). EU NAVFOR also protects vulnerable vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, deters and disrupts piracy. In addition, EU NAVFOR monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia.