Naval missions off Somalia: Ocean Shield, CTF-151, China's escorts and Djibouti's bases

In short

As hijackings off Somalia rose in 2008, navies from many countries sent warships to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. This page records the main missions other than the EU's, which is covered in The UK and the EU in Somalia. The piracy itself is covered in Piracy off Somalia, and Somalia's own navy in Somali Navy.

NATO: Allied Provider, Allied Protector and Ocean Shield

NATO records that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked for help on 25 September 2008, and that NATO defence ministers agreed on 9 October 2008. Operation Allied Provider, from October to December 2008, escorted World Food Programme ships and patrolled the waters around Somalia. Operation Allied Protector, from March to August 2009, "helped to deter, defend against and disrupt pirate activities" in the Gulf of Aden and off the Horn of Africa (NATO, "Counter-piracy operations (2008–2016)", updated 19 May 2022).

The North Atlantic Council approved Operation Ocean Shield on 17 August 2009. NATO records that a strategic assessment in March 2012 allowed its ships to disable pirate vessels and to use force against suspected pirate ships, that from January 2015 it operated with a smaller "focused presence", and that the operation ended on 15 December 2016. NATO credited naval patrols, shipping-industry practices and armed security teams on ships with suppressing piracy, noting "no successful piracy attacks since 2012" (NATO, 2022). Wikipedia records that the US Navy contributed the most ships, followed by the Indian Navy (Wikipedia, Operation Ocean Shield).

Combined Task Force 151

The Combined Maritime Forces, a naval partnership that NATO describes as US-led, set up Combined Task Force 151 in January 2009. Its task is to suppress piracy outside coastal states' territorial waters, in coordination with the EU's naval force, and to help patrol the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor through the Gulf of Aden. Command rotates among member navies every three to six months; Bahrain, Brazil, Denmark, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Pakistan, the Philippines, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Türkiye, the UK and the US have led it (Combined Maritime Forces, CTF 151).

China's escort fleets

China's navy sent its first escort fleet to the Gulf of Aden in December 2008. By April 2019 its fleets had escorted more than 6,600 ships in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia, and the 32nd fleet had just been sent (China Daily, Xinhua, 19 April 2019). Wikipedia records that the escorts at first covered only Chinese ships and aid shipments, and later opened to other countries' merchant ships (Wikipedia, Chinese anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden).

Djibouti's bases

Many of these forces are supported from neighbouring Djibouti. Al Jazeera reported in April 2026 that Camp Lemonnier, a former French Foreign Legion base, is the headquarters of US Africa Command's Horn of Africa task force, has more than 4,000 personnel and "remains the only permanent US military base on the continent"; Djibouti's finance minister said in 2017 that the US paid $65 million a year. It reported that Japan's and Italy's presence in Djibouti followed the anti-piracy operations off Somalia, and that China, which pays about $20 million a year, and France also have bases there (Faisal Ali, Al Jazeera, 8 April 2026). See Djibouti's military in Somalia and The United States military in Somalia.

Sources differ

• Why piracy fell. NATO credits naval patrols together with industry measures and armed guards; Piracy off Somalia also records action on land by Puntland's forces.

Read the primary sources yourself

• NATO, "Counter-piracy operations (2008–2016)": page.
• Combined Maritime Forces, "CTF 151: Counter-piracy": page.