Flagship of Finnish Navy to help escort food aid ships to Somalia

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Finland is scheduled to formally decide on September 14th on sending the mine vessel Pohjanmaa to the coast of Somalia. Finnish participation in Operation Atalanta will be discussed on that day at a meeting of the foreign and security policy committee of the government and President.
      “The matter is getting ripe for a decision”, says Minister of Defence Jyri Häkämies (Nat. Coalition Party). “The Foreign Ministry will put it forward in the committee, and the matter is becoming quite clear. The operation is to start in the early part of next year.”
     
The EU-led Operation Atalanta began in 2008. In June it was extended through December 2012.
      The aim is to protect ships taking food aid to Somalia against pirates operating in the area. Taking part in the effort are naval vessels and planes from eight different countries.
     
The European Union is holding discussions with several different countries on whether or not they could put pirates that are caught on trial. So far the EU’s military vessels have delivered 88 suspected pirates to Kenya to await trial.
      “Finland’s goal is to make sure that human rights are respected, and in all conditions to avoid a situation in which pirates would be taken to Finland for trial”, Häkämies says.
     
The cost of deploying the Pohjanmaa would be about EUR 10 million. The costs would cover a one-month journey to the coast of Somalia, the four-month operation, and the return voyage.
      Finland has three mine vessels which would be suitable for crisis management in the Indian Ocean. Finnish Naval Commander Juha Rannikko has decided that the Pohjanmaa, the largest of these, would be the one to be sent.
      One of the ship’s advantages is that it has an efficient air conditioning system, making it suitable for use in hot conditions.
     
The Finnish Navy says that after the foreign and security policy committee makes its decision, the Pohjanmaa could be off the Somali coast in four months. That means that the ship would set sail from Finland in early January.
      Compared with many vessels taking part in the Atalanta operation, the Pohjanmaa is small, old and slow. The Finnish Navy says that it nevertheless has sufficient capability for the mission.
     
The United Nations is transporting food aid to Somalia in ships, many of which are in poor condition. Some of them actually have trouble coping with the strong sea current on Somalia’s east coast.
      The Pohjanmaa would protect the slow and vulnerable freight vessels from attacks by pirates. With Pohjanmaa escorting food transport, the faster and larger military vessels of other EU countries, many of which are equipped with helicopters, would then be more freely available to actually hunt down the pirates.
      The route of the aid vessels takes them from the Kenyan port of Mombasa and from Djibouti to any one of four Somali port cities.
      The aim is for the Pohjanmaa to be at sea at least 70 per cent of the time. The rest of the time she would be in port, for maintenance and loading supplies. Military vessels taking part in Atalanta operate at sea an average 7-10 days at a time.
     
The Finnish contribution to the effort would be up to 120 people. Some of them would work at a support base in Djibouti and on the operation’s international staff.
      Commander Veli-Pekka Heinonen of the Finnish Naval Staff says that there has been great interest in the operation among the naval reserve and the Navy’s permanent staff.
      “Some of the tasks will require people with a certain level of competence, which might not necessarily be found in the Navy”, Heinonen says.
     
Ships taking part in the Atalanta operation have been involved with firefights with the pirates. So far only one pirate has been killed.
      Even that death was accidental. A German sniper shot at the outboard motor of the boat that was being used by the pirate. The bullet ricocheted off the engine and fatally injured the pirate.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  A quick trip to Somalia (19.4.2009)
  Finnish naval vessel to waters off Somalia? (27.4.2009)

Links:
  FNS Pohjanmaa (Wikipedia)
  European Union Naval Force Somalia - Operation Atalanta

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