EU, Japan hold joint counter-piracy exercise

The European Union (EU) said Friday the EU Naval Force(EU NAVFOR) Somalia-Operation Atalanta and Japan's Self-Defence Forces (SDF) conducted a joint counter-piracy exercise in the Gulf of Aden.

The EU External Action Service said in a statement this was the first joint exercise between EU NAVFOR and the SDF in counter-piracy activities, which was started in the early morning and led by the Italian Navy Destroyer "ANDREA DORIA" of EU NAVFOR- Atalanta and the Japanese Destroyer "Takanami", Xinhua reported.

"It aimed to increase interoperability and mutual knowledge between the respective navies, through various actions related to communications, tactical manoeuvring, flying operations, and boarding team," said the statement.

The preparation for this joint exercise followed an agreement between EU and Japanese leaders during the 22nd Japan-EU summit last May in Brussels.

--Indo-Asian News service

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