Brussels, 19/08/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 13 August, the Dutchman Pieter Bindt became the new force commander of the EU's first maritime operation off the coast of Somalia (EU NAVFOR Atalanta). He takes over from the Spanish Commander Juan Garat Carame. Born in 1959, Commodore Bindt has previously held the posts of navy planner at the Dutch Ministry of Defence and of Commander of the Netherlands Maritime Force within the NATO rapid reaction unit. This new appointment coincides with the arrival of the Norwegian frigate Fridtjof Nansen, which becomes the first vessel from a non-EU Member State to take part in the operation. "I welcome Norway's participation in (operation) Atalanta", the High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana, declared in a press release. Operation Atalanta, of which the Operation Commander since last June has been the British Rear Admiral Peter Hudson, was launched in December 2008 to protect ships of the World Food Programme and merchant vessels sailing through the Gulf of Aden and along the coast of Somalia from acts of piracy and armed attacks. The Netherlands becomes the third state, after Greece and Spain, to take command of the operation on the ground, a position which must, according to the mandate, be carried out by these three countries in turn and temporarily (four months). The EU force headquarters will now be situated on the Dutch frigate Eversten. (A.By./trans.fl)