The European Union's military naval mission to fight piracy off the Somali coast will begin on December 8, said French defense minister Herve Morin, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency.
The EU would send 5-6 warships and reconnaissance aircrafts for patrolling the pirate-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden, he told reporters Wednesday.
The operation, named EUNAVOR, will escort World Food Program food shipments to Somalia and fend off piracy in the region.
Countries including France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, and Spain are contributing to the mission.
Piracy is on the rise in the vital sea route in the Arabian Sea between Yemen and Somalia, which connects the Gulf and Asia to Europe and beyond via the Suez Canal. It is critical to Gulf oil shipments.
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