This paper discusses the topic of piracy, specifically its most recent developments in the Indian Ocean, with particular focus on the Italian Navy's involvement both nationally and in coalitions.

Indeed, the Italian Navy's significant presence in this area started near the end of the 1980s, with the dispatching of patrol assets to the Persian Gulf to escort national shipping along sea lines.

These activities have allowed significant information gathering on the environment and dynamics of shipping and local traffic in the area.

Actual involvement in piracy-related events started in 1997, with the presence of a naval task group in the Eastern seas.

Following the start of Operation Enduring Freedom, the Italian Navy began a period of continuous presence with naval assets, for surveillance and counter-terrorism operations throughout the entire USCENTCOM area. This allowed the Navy to continue gathering information. In addition, coalition members interacted with pirates in different occasions under the direction of an Italian Admiral.

In July 2005, two Italian vessels were attacked by pirates in Somalia waters over the span of a week (Jolly Marrone and Cielo di Milano). In response, the Italian government took immediate action, tasking the Navy to dispatch a frigate to the area to conduct a national maritime surveillance and counter-piracy operation nicknamed Mare Sicuro (“Safe Sea”). This initiative provided an important sign to the international community, and the Italian action was also acknowledged by the IMO during the ensuing Muscat conference (January 2006).

Since then, given the dynamics of piracy in the Indian Ocean, the Italian Navy has planned yearly deployments of naval groups to the area (Operation Medal). Besides analysing the most relevant lessons learned and the critical operational issues of these events, this paper aims to point out that piracy is an international crime of asymmetric nature that every navy should be ready to effectively counter in the future, by seeking regional and international cooperation to preserve the freedom of navigation at sea.