Corvettes HMS Stockholm and HMS Malmo and support vessel HMS Trosso are seen off the Karlskrona naval base in southern Sweden, March 21, 2009. The vessels were to take part in Operation Atalanta off the Somali coast. (Paul Madej/Scanpix/Reuters)

Video: Pirate-hunting headquarters

The EU's anti-piracy Operation Atalanta fields distress calls from the Gulf of Aden and sees some success.

By Teri Schultz - GlobalPost
Published: November 18, 2009 06:27 ET
Updated: November 20, 2009 16:03 ET

NORTHWOOD, U.K. — Almost every day now come reminders of why the European Union made a landmark decision a year ago that Somali piracy was a problem it had to fight.

At the very moment foreign and defense ministers from the 27 member states were considering how best to help counter the problem Tuesday, 28 North Korean crew members were taken hostage with a chemical tanker. The...

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