Tag: anti piracy measures

Coordination can be successfully deployed to disrupt piracy On 28 November the Royal Navy once again struck a blow to Somali piracy operating in the Indian Ocean. On 28 November, RFA Fort Victoria was patrolling in an area approximately 420 nautical miles from the Seychelles and 350 nautical miles from the Somali coast as part of NATO's Combined Task Force 508.Early that morning, she received information that a Spanish fishing vessel operating to the north of their position had come under attack from a group of pirate vessels. The ship's Lynx helicopter was quickly despatched to investigate.Once at the scene, the helicopter identified two suspect vessels, a whaler and a skiff, in the vicinity of the fishing vessel. The faster of the two, a skiff, sped away at over 25 knots as the helicopter gave chase. When the skiff ignored orders to stop, a specially trained sniper onboard the Lynx helicopter fired warning shots ahead of the fleeing vessel which stopped and the suspected pirates onboard were then taken to Fort Victoria via boat.Fort Victoria's Royal Marines boarding team then boarded the whaler and another skiff in the vicinity. As a result of the day's action, a total of seven ...

The warship is accompanied by the Pechenega tank ship The Russian Pacific Fleet anti-submarine destroyer Admiral Tributs is heading to the Gulf of Aden to join an international anti-piracy mission there, the Russian Pacific Fleet spokesman said.The warship, accompanied by the Pechenega tank ship and a rescue tug, left its home port of Vladivostok at about 11:00 local time (00:00 GMT).The Admiral Tributs, which has two helicopters on board, will replace another Udaloy class destroyer, the Admiral Panteleyev, on the mission off the Horn of Africa.Russian warships have escorted a total of 120 commercial ships through pirate-infested waters off the Somali coast since 2008, when Russia joined the international anti-piracy mission.Task forces from the Russian Pacific Fleet, usually led by Udaloy class destroyers, operate in the area on a rotating basis.The Admiral Tributs previously took part in the mission in 2009.Source: RIA Novosti

Number of ship hijackings has gone down in the area Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere (Christian Democratic Union) does not see a speedy end of the Bundeswehr mission at the Horn of Africa.Even though the number of ship hijackings has gone down in the area of the EU-led Atalanta mission, an end of the mission, which has been underway for about three years by now, could be in sight only if piracy were combated at its roots and Somalia became a stable state, the minister said in Djibouti in eastern Africa yesterday.The pirates are mainly active from Somalia. According to the minister, this year, until mid-November, 224 incidents of piracy were counted in the Atalanta area, including 20 hijackings (8.9 %). In contrast, in 2009 and 2010 there were 231 incidents of piracy each year with some 50 hijackings (about 22 %). With about 520 soldiers, the mission off the coast of Africa is the Bundeswehr's third-largest operation.De Maiziere stated that he intends to advocate common action in particular also at the EU level.Source: Hamburg Financial Times

New guidance has been released by the UK Government Following the announcement that British merchant ships will be able to arm themselves against the piracy threat - new guidance has been released by the UK Government.The UK Chamber of Shipping has welcomed the news.Head of security and defence, Gavin Simmonds said: "Shipping minister Mike Penning has been the force behind this cross-departmental policy change on armed guards for ships which strikes a good and practical balance - we welcome this outcome."There is continued pressure for military and other complementary solutions to the piracy crisis and we need to be clear that arming our ships is only a small part of the wider solution."The new guidance includes the factors ship owners should take into account when conducting a risk assessment before a voyage and advice on choosing a private security company (PSC).Companies wishing to use armed guards will need to submit a detailed counter piracy plan to the Department of Transport, according to the guidance.Also, any PSC employed will need prior authorisation from the Home Office for possession of prohibited firearms.This new guidance will be kept under review to ensure that it continues to meet anti-piracy efforts both nationally and globally.Source: ...

90,000 members support the global campaign in combating the 'horrors of piracy The largest organization of mariners in the world - the Associated Marine Officers' and Seamen's Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP)-PTGWO-ITF - with around 90,000 members - is supporting the global campaign in combating the 'horrors of piracy' felt in the Gulf of Aden, the coast of Somalia and the Gulf of New Guinea, that have also affected Filipino seafarers deployed aboard foreign vessels passing the area."The situation in the area is now turning to be very alarming in the region," said top maritime educator Vice Admiral Eduardo Ma. R. Santos (AFP, ret.) executive vice president of AMOSUP, and president of the Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific (MAAP), who pointed that what matters much now is the seafarers' "preparedness," and this is why, "the shipping firms that employ them are tasked to shoulder the expenses for their anti-piracy training, as the requirement is mandatory." Currently, there are close to 400,000 Filipino seafarers who are deployed aboard inter-ocean vessels, based on the data provided by the Philippine Overseas Workers' Employment Administration (POEA) headed by Administrator Carlos Cao, Jr.Santos, a member of the multi-nation panel of discussants in the ...

VO70s to be shipped for sections of the next two legs The Volvo Ocean Race's anti-piracy plan will see the fleet transported by an armed heavy lift ship from an undisclosed Safe Haven Port in the Indian Ocean and resume racing from a set-down point along the Sharjah coastline in the northern Emirates, within a day's sailing of the Leg 2 finish in Abu Dhabi.Back in August it was announced that the route for Legs 2 and 3 would be re-drawn because of the threat of piracy in the Indian Ocean. With the fleet set to depart Cape Town for the start of Leg 2 on Sunday, Race Director Jack Lloyd has made parts of the plan public for the first time.The six boats will leave Cape Town as scheduled on Sunday, 11 December and continue to be tracked as normal until they reach a point in the Indian Ocean. From there, details about the boats' location will be switched off to the public as they sail on to a Safe Haven Port. At that port, the boats will be loaded on to a ship protected by armed guards and featuring other security measures and transported to the northern Emirates. ...

Head of fleet operations at Maersk tells what can be done to combat piracy Erik Rabjerg Nielsen, head of fleet operations at the global shipping company Maersk Line, tells Insider what can be done to combat the growing scourge of piracy.

Ministers propose extension for Operation Atalanta mandate Operation Atalanta, the European Union operation against piracy in the Indian Ocean, has been heralded the most successful EU mission to date and is likely to be extended.Since 1 December, Spain has assumed command of the operation, which is set to run until December 2012.But at a meeting of EU defence and foreign affairs ministers in Brussels last week, acting Spanish Minister for Defence Carme Chacón proposed Operation Atalanta be extended for a further two years.A spokesman for EU foreign affairs and security supremo Catherine Ashton said the EU member states had given a clear signal of their willingness to extend the Operation Atalanta mandate until December 2014."Such a decision will enable long-term planning and will send a clear political message to our partners of the EU's commitment in the fight against piracy," he added.Operation Atalanta began in December 2008 and the first decision to extend the mission was taken on its second anniversary in 2010.The EU is also considering a regional project aimed at providing technical assistance and training for coastguard forces in countries such as Kenya, Djibouti and the Seychelles.Source: IFW

Military presence on Mahe to fight the pirate attacks The Seychelles on Friday invited Beijing to set up a military base on the archipelago to beef up the fight against piracy there, Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Paul Adam said.The declaration came as Liang Guanglie is making the first-ever visit by a Chinese defence minister to the Indian Ocean island state."We have invited the Chinese government to set up a military presence on Mahe to fight the pirate attacks that the Seychelles face on a regular basis," Adam said."For the time being China is studying this possibility because she has economic interests in the region and Beijing is also involved in the fight against piracy," he explained.General Liang, who arrived in Victoria on Thursday with a 40-strong delegation, had been invited in October by Seychelles President James Michel, when he was on a visit to China."Together, we need to increase our surveillance capacity in the Indian Ocean... as Seychelles has a strategic position between Asia and Africa," Michel said in statement, adding that China had given its army two light aircraft.The two countries signed a military cooperation agreement in 2004 that has enabled some 50 Seychelles soldiers to be trained in China. ...

The team will focus on identifying the organisers, financiers and negotiators involved in piracy The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee (Constabulary) is participating in a new German-Dutch investigation team set up to combat piracy in Somali waters.The team will focus primarily on identifying the organisers, financiers and negotiators involved in hijacking merchant shipping.The Dutch National Public Prosecutor's Office made the announcement of the team's establishment on November 17.The Dutch ministry of defence said the investigation team will try to discover where the millions of dollars of ransom money goes to in an effort to track down the broader piracy network.The Joint Investigation Team is an initiative of the Dutch National Public Prosecutor's Office and the German Public Prosecutor's Office in Osnabrück, Germany. In addition, the National Criminal Investigation Service, the State Investigation Bureau of Lower Saxony, the Federal Investigation Bureau in Berlin, Eurojust and Europol are also taking part.Last week, representatives from the Dutch National Public Prosecutor's Office, the Public Prosecutor's Office in Osnabrück and Eurojust signed the cooperation agreement. The joint investigation team has been set up provisionally for one year.Despite international efforts, piracy continues to be a major problem in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. In recent days ...