The Member States of the European Union have approved the appointment of Vice Admiral Ignacio Villanueva Serrano as the new commander of the ‘Atalanta mission’, the European naval operation to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean.
The vice admiral of the Spanish Navy will receive command of the mission on November 23 and as such will plan and direct the operation in collaboration with the political and military authorities of the EU. In 2020, he already held the operational leadership of the mission based at the Rota naval base, in Cádiz.
Villanueva Serrano will receive command of Atalanta from Spanish Vice Admiral José María Nuñez Torrente, who has led the mission since April 2021.
The new commander of the Atalanta mission is currently the Chief of Staff of the Spanish Navy Headquarters and has served in the Navy for 36 years. He has previously held high-ranking positions within the High Availability Maritime Headquarters (SPMARFOR) of the Spanish Navy, and was commander of the Air Wing of the Spanish Navy.
With a stage of action in the Horn of Africa and up to the Gulf of Aden, the ‘Atalanta mission’ is dedicated to the fight against piracy and prevention of acts of armed robbery in the Indian Ocean with a mandate until the end of 2024 .
