The frigate ‘Santa Maria’ conducts exercises with a Turkish maritime grouping on the Somali coasts

•  The vessels carried out a complex stern refuelling manoeuvre, as well as sea formations, communications, resupply and helicopter and personnel exchanges

During its deployment in Operation Atalanta, the frigate ‘Santa Maria’ has conducted exercises with a Turkish maritime task force that is conducting seismic surveys in the waters near Mogadishu.

The Turkish naval grouping consists of one Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment (AOR) vessel, the ‘TCG UTGM Arif Ekmekci’; two twin frigates of the ‘Santa Maria’, the ‘TCG Gokova’ and ‘TCG Gediz’; and four seismic and oil exploration vessels, the ‘Oruc Reis’, the ‘Zaganos Pasa’, the ‘Sancar’ and the ‘Ataman’.

During the exercise, the ‘Santa Maria’ was refuelled (Fuelling At Sea/FAS) by the stern of the oil tanker ‘TCG UTGM Arif Ekmekci’, an unusual manoeuvre as Türkiye is the only nation currently capable of refuelling at sea in the Indian Ocean.

This was followed by exercises in sea formations, flag communications, very light weight provisioning and radiotelephone communications.

Finally, an exchange of helicopters and personnel took place with the aim of sharing insights and knowledge of the area of operations.

Operation Atalanta

Operation Atalanta was the result of a series of UN resolutions adopted following an increase in piracy in the Indian Ocean from 2005. With the support of Spain, it became the first EU naval operation conducted under the Common Security and Defence Policy. In December 2024, Operation Atalanta was extended until February 2027 to take account of its achievements and future challenges.

Throughout this time, the area of operations has been enlarged in successive mandates and now encompasses the Gulf of Aden and neighbouring countries, including the port and city of Muscat (Oman), the Somali Basin, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba.

Currently, under the operational control of the Operations Command, Spain is contributing to Operation Atalanta with around 350 military personnel, as well as the following assets and units:

- The Operation Headquarters, OHQ, at the Rota naval base.

- One frigate/ warship.

- An embarked helicopter.

- An embarked special operations team.

- One maritime reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft (DAT ‘Orion’) in Djibouti.

- Liaison offices located in Mogadishu (Somalia), Manama (Bahrain), Brussels (Belgium) and Port Victoria (Seychelles).

- Operation Logistics Support Unit deployed in Djibouti (Djibouti).

Spain has been the only EU country to have participated continuously in Operation Atalanta since its launch 16 years ago. This demonstrates our commitment to security in the region.