Operation Allied Protector

Operation Allied Protector was an anti-piracy military operation undertaken by NATO forces from March – August 2009 in the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean, and the Guardafui Channel to protect maritime routes from pirates within the International Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC). It was the second NATO anti-piracy operation in area following Operation Allied Provider and was succeeded by Operation Ocean Shield.

From 24 March – June 2009, the operation was conducted by Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1). This was the first time that SNMG1, which had previously operated in the Eastern Atlantic, was deployed to Southeast Asia. From 29 June – August 2009, Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) took over responsibility from SNMG1.

Background
Piracy off the coast of Somalia came to the forefront of NATO's attention when at the request of the United States Secretary-General on 25 September 2008, that NATO provide naval protection for vessels chartered by the UN's World Food Program based on UN Security Council Resolutions 1814, 1816, and 1838. On 21 October 2008, a letter was received by the United Nations from the Somali Transitional Federal Government authorizing NATO to enter Somali waters to protect World Food Program ships. Furthermore, they were authorized to perform counter-piracy operations in the region, including in Somali territorial waters. This led to the first NATO operation in the region, which lasted 24 October to 13 December 2008. NATO operations were suspended when the European Union's Operation Atlanta began.

After an informal meeting among the defence ministers of NATO nations in Kraków, Poland, in February 2009 the North Atlantic Council (the managing council of NATO) met. At the same time the UN established the International Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC), a route that would allow merchant ships to traverse the Gulf of Aden safely and be monitored by warships. The NAC decided that a new NATO operation off the coast of Somalia would take place in early 2009 and the mission was approved on 11 March 2009. The start date for the operation was decided on 24 March 2009. Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1), consisting of five NATO warships, was assigned to the operation.

Operations
On 28 March 2009, USS Halyburton received a piracy emergency call from Grandezza, a 37 m Maldivian-flagged yacht in the Gulf of Aden. The vessel reported that it was under machine gun and rocket-propelled grenade attack from at least one pirate skiff. Two Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk helicopters were scrambled from Halyburton and disrupted the attack. Due to the distance from the incident, the pirates were able to retreat before NATO surface forces arrived. HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën (F802) later debriefed the crew of Grandezza and obtained statements and photographs from the attack.

On 18 April 2009, at approximately 3:00 pm local time, RFAUX Wave Knight (A389) stopped an attempted pirate attack of the Norwegian oil tanker MV Front Ardenne. Seven pirates were ultimately detained after a several hour pursuit involving HMCS Winnipeg (FFH 338), Halyburton, and Wave Knight. According to NATO, the suspects were "interrogated, disarmed,...[and] were set free according to national regulations." From 26–27 April 2009, SNMG1 made a port call in Karachi, Pakistan. Due to an increased amount of pirate activity, two other port visits in Singapore and Australia were cancelled. Furthermore, the end of SNMG1's participation in the operation was brought forward from June to May.

On 1 May 2009, NRP Corte-Real intervened in an attempted pirate attack of the Norwegian oil tanker MV Kition. The sole pirate skiff retreated to a dhow mothership, which was later intercepted by NATO surface forces. Eight Portuguese marines boarded the craft and detained 19 suspects and recovered several weapons, including several high-explosives. According to Côrte-Real's commander, this was the first time that such weapons were recovered from a pirate vessel. On 24 May 2009, Winnipeg boarded two pirate skiffs off the coast of Somalia, resulting in seizure of equipment, arms, and ammunition. Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) took over from SNMG1 on 29 June 2009 and continued operations off the coast of Somalia until the end of Allied Protector on 17 August 2009, when the operation was superseded by the new NATO operation, Operation Ocean Shield which widened the scope of the mission.

Deployed units
The following units were deployed in Operation Allied Protector: