(Xinhua) -- A NATO warship has just completed the alliance's first anti-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia by escorting a shipment of supplies to an African Union mission in the country, said NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Monday. "The state of play is that one NATO ship just finished escorting a ship which was bringing in supplies for the Burundian battalion...in Somalia," Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters.
He said a second ship is escorting a World Food Program (WFP) ship and will dock on Tuesday. "The operation is moving well," he said.
Three NATO ships -- from Italy, Greece and Britain -- have been deployed to escort WFP food shipments and patrol the waters to deter acts of piracy until a European Union (EU) mission is in place. The three NATO ships are allowed to use force pursuant to the authorized rules of engagement and in compliance with relevant international and national law, said NATO's top military command for operations on Friday.
The ships were ordered to redirect toward Africa at short notice after NATO defense ministers agreed two weeks ago to send warships to carry out anti-piracy duties off the coast of Somalia. The decision was in response to a request by the WFP and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Rampant piracy on the waters is making food shipments impossible without escorts. At the same time the WFP shipments are crucial as over 40 percent of the Somali population depends on WFP food aid.