A new Operation Commander at the head of EUNAVFOR Atalanta. One of the first Spanish anti-piracy officers
(B2) Spanish Vice-Admiral Eugenio Diaz Del Rio will succeed Major General Antonio Plannels Palay as Commander of the European Union Operation Off Somalia (EUNAVFOR Atalanta), on 19 February
The decision is endorsed this Tuesday (26.01) at the Political and Security Committee without much debate. Spain took over from the United Kingdom, the command of the operation since 2019 and the departure of the British from the Union. The officer will also be based at HQ in Rota (Southern Spain) (read: Rota HQ will be operational from January 2019 (Admiral Martorell)
It's a homecoming for this native Galician who was one of the first Spanish officers, in the area, to grapple with the Somali pirates. This anti-piracy task is not completed on the zone. But it has become secondary today. The vice-admiral will have the task of implementing the new mandate of the operation dedicated to the fight against trafficking in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean area (Read: With four new tasks, EUNAVFOR Atalanta becomes a global maritime surveillance operation of the Indian Ocean)
From a navy family
Born in Vigo (Galicia) in 1961, married and father of five children, he belongs to a family " of long tradition within the navy " according to Faro de Vigo, the local newspaper. His father, Ángel Díaz del Río, also belonged to theArmada Spanish. He was director of studies at ETEA (Escola de Transmisións e Electricidade da Armada) and for years directed a merchant navy training academy in Vigo, “ through which many maritime professionals have passed, including some politicians and others who currently occupy important positions in public administrations and private companies ". Two more of his brothers from elsewhere in the Navy.
A combat system specialist
A graduate of the Naval Warfare School, Eugenio specializes in combat systems and tactical action. He was initially assigned to the corvette "Huntressas a combat information center officer and naval gun fire support observer. He then commanded the patrol boat 'Toralla'.
Deployed during the Iraq-Kuwait war in 1990
He serves aboard the frigate'Santa Maria', for almost four years, participating in the first Gulf War in 1990, as well as in exercises, operations and deployments of NATO's permanent naval forces (STANAVFORLANT and STANAVFORMED). He then commanded the fast patrol boat SPS "Laya" and was in 1998 and 1999 Chief of Staff of the 41st Frigate Squadron (Santa María class frigates).
In NATO staffs
In 2000, he was operations staff officer of NATO's Standing Naval Force in the Mediterranean (STANAVFORMED), then took command of the corvette 'Winner' with which he participates in the operation 'Coherent Behavior' integrated into EUROMARFOR. He continued in the NATO line, in 2004, with a one-year rotation at NATO's Maritime Component Command (MCC) headquarters in Northwood (United Kingdom), in the N3 division. He then took care of the NRF (NATO Response Force), maritime situational awareness and operational planning (Operational Planning and Maritime Situational Awareness).
At the head of the Méndez Núñez...
In September 2007, he took command of the air defense frigate 'Méndez Núñez' (F-104), deployed in the Indian Ocean, at a key moment: when maritime piracy skyrocketed in the area. He had just completed various maneuvers with the British Navy, in the Red Sea, and was about to cross the Suez Canal to return to Spain in April 2008, when the order fell, as the story then tells Vigo Faro : the Bakio Beach, a Spanish Basque tuna boat, was just attacked on April 19 off the coast of Somalia. Just a few days after a French sailboat, the Ponant.
... facing the first Somali pirates
The sailors of the tuna boat (Galicians and Basques) are taken hostage. We must help them. French and Spaniards decide to coordinate their efforts on the spot. France makes its naval and air base in Djibouti available to Spain (read: France and Spain decided to act on maritime piracy). A device that will leave its mark. Formalized a few weeks later in the form of a bilateral agreement between Paris and Madrid, it serves as the basis for the European anti-piracy operation, pushed by the two countries, which will become Operation Atalanta. NB: The sailors are released a few days later (after payment of a ransom).
Back in the Indian Ocean in 2014
In April 2009, Eugenio was assigned to the General Staff of the Spanish Navy as Head of the Strategic Plans Branch (in the Plans and Policies Division). He took command of SNMG2 (NATO's permanent maritime group) between June 2013 and July 2014, aboard the Blas de Lezo (F-103), deployed for six months in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, as part of the anti-terrorist operation 'Active Endeavour' and the NRF and, for seven months in the Indian Ocean as part of the NATO anti-piracy operation (Ocean Shield - CTF-508).
A career at the general staff and at Marcom
Upon his return from NATO, he was appointed Chief of Staff to the Chief of the Spanish Navy (AJEMA), then assigned, in 2015, to the post of Head of the Plans and Policies Division at the General Staff of the Spanish Navy. In July 2016, he left for Northwood (United Kingdom), as Chief of Staff of NATO's Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) in Northwood (United Kingdom). In the summer of 2019, he returned to Madrid, for a position as head of the 'plans and policies' division at the headquarters of the Spanish Navy. And, in May 2020, he took command of the Spanish Maritime Forces (COMSPMARFOR).
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
Military career
- ship's mate - navigator (OF2): July 1988,
- corvette captain - lieutenant commander (OF3): July 1997
- frigate captain - Order (OF4): July 1, 2004
- ship's captain - captain (OF5): April 2009
- Rear-Admiral (OF6): September 2015 (May 2013-July 2014 on a temporary basis)
- vice-admiral (OF7): April 2018
Download its biography (Spanish army)
