On 4 November 2011, following a coordinated search and detection by a French Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance aircraft, the German warship FGS KOELN, operating as part of the EU NAVFOR, disrupted a pirate action group comprising a whaler and skiff, 50 nautical miles off the coast of Tanzania. On detection, the suspect pirates jettisoned their pirate equipment overboard and were detained without resistance. They have been transferred onboard FGS KOELN and the two pirate boats sunk, preventing their use against merchant shipping in the area.

EU NAVFOR Somalia is a counter-piracy taskforce operating in the area of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean responsible for repressing acts of piracy and for the safe escort of ships carrying World Food Program aid and vessels of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Additionally, EU NAVFOR monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia.