Operation Ocean Shield
E1. Maritime security, geopolitics and riskDefinition
NATO counter-piracy mission (2009 to 2016).
NATO’s counter-piracy operation off the Horn of Africa, running from 17 August 2009 to December 2016. Ocean Shield protected merchant shipping in the Gulf of Aden and Somali Basin, escorted World Food Programme deliveries on occasion, disrupted Pirate Action Groups at sea, and built regional counter-piracy capacity, operating alongside EUNAVFOR Atalanta and CTF-151 and coordinating through SHADE. NATO ended the operation in December 2016 as Somali pirate attacks fell to near zero, succeeding its earlier Operation Allied Protector.
Source: NATO Operation Ocean Shield, 17 August 2009 to December 2016, counter-piracy off the Horn of Africa