Spanish relay in Atalanta
(B2) The Spanish frigate Victoria (F-82) took over on Tuesday (November 5) from its sister ship Canarias (F-86), engaged since July in EU Counter-Piracy Operation (EUNavfor Atalanta)
For the Spanish class frigate Santa Maria, coming to the Indian Ocean is nothing new. She participated, in fact, in the anti-piracy operation on three occasions, participating in particular in a number of decisive actions by Atalanta (read: 18 months after the start of the operation, Atalanta in offensive mode). With the flagship, ITS Marceglia, it is the only naval means of the operation to cover an area almost as vast as Europe.
The ESPS Victoria belongs to the 41st Escort Squadron of the Spanish Navy and to the Combat Group 1 (COMGRUP-1) of the Naval Action Force (Fuerza de Action Naval or FAN). Based in Rota, it has a certain versatility allowing it to carry out quite varied missions, in particular maritime interdiction or maritime control operations.
ESPS Victoria also have took part in the embargo of Yugoslavia (Operation Sharp Guard), in deployments in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf during the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, in operations Active Endeavor et Enduring Freedom, as in the operation Sophia in Mediterranean.
