Tag: EUNAVFOR

21 man Indian crew and the four British armed guards are safe Danish tanker group Torm said Friday its clean tanker Torm Republican successfully deterred a pirate attack in the Southern Arabian Sea."The Indian Master, his 21 man Indian crew and the four British armed guards are safe and suffered no injuries as they showed great skill in deterring the attack. No pirates were hurt either," the company said.The Danish-flagged MR tanker, with approximately 47,000 dwt, was en route to Taiwan on Thursday afternoon after loading naphtha at Port Suez when six pirates in a skiff "approached the vessel and opened fire," the company said. The four guards onboard "fired a number of warning shots into the water. This procedure followed closely Torm's Rules of Engagement. Following this the pirates abandoned their attack," the company said.The vessel and the cargo did not suffer any damages and the tanker continues its voyage, the company said.In a separate incident on Wednesday, a EU NAVFOR warship stopped and boarded a suspicious group of two small boats, a whaler and skiff off Somalia, the EU's antipiracy naval force said."Before the boats could be boarded by teams from FGS KOLN, the crew of the boats ...

The whaler was destroyed to prevent any potential future use for piracy The EU NAVFOR warship FGS KÖLN located and destroyed a suspicious whaler close to a beach off Somalia, 100 nautical miles SW of Mogadishu.A helicopter was dispatched to inspect and found the whaler loaded with equipment usually related to piracy on board.No crew was seen on board. Consequently, the whaler was destroyed to prevent any potential future use for piracy.This action continues EU NAVFOR's robust stance against piracy and the intention to interdict and disrupt pirate activity.Source: EU NAVFOR

After 300 days in captivity In the early hours of 26 August, M/V POLAR wasreleased from pirate control after 300 days in captivity and has recently safely reached the port of Salalah, Oman.The Panama flagged and Liberian owned tanker was enroute to Singapore from Suez at the time of her capture, approximately 620 nautical miles East of Socotra Island.Source: EU NAVFOR

Hijackers have already shown their ability to change their tactics The decision by the European Union's naval force combating piracy in the Gulf of Aden and beyond to seek a "pirate cultural advisor" has unsurprisingly attracted media attention."Pirate culture" was the phrase that hooked most commentators for two reasons: the perceived oxymoron created by juxtaposing the two words, "culture", suggesting to many art galleries, the opera and similarly refined loci of aesthetic appreciation, and "pirate" widely regarded as the former's antithesis; and because of the opportunity it provides to reference historical and modern images of piracy - from Victorian melodrama to Hollywood hokum.Despite the fact that the activities of the modern "pirate", who hijacks ships and hold their crews hostage for ransom, have received wide if intermittent attention in the media, the image conjured by the word in most minds stubbornly remains the romanticised one rather than the brutal reality.So stories covering the job advertisement for a pirate cultural advisor have been shot through with derision and liberal use of images such as those of the recent Hollywood series of piratical films. They also revived the criticism of what is seen as the disproportionate response by navies from predominantly European ...

EU naval force commander makes calls for more resources The commander in charge of the EU naval force off the coast of Somalia, says he needs more resources to offer the level of protection required by the shipping industry. Major Gen Buster Howes says there are now 11 highly organised Somali pirate groups, who are costing the world economy up to fourteen billion dollars a year. At the briefing at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, more was told about the operation.

Including the expected trends EU NAVFOR issues report containing an assessment of Somali piracy activity for the period July to December 2011.The basic attack tactic of skiffs with large outboard motors, carrying 4-6 armed SPs, utilising a ladder (or other crude climbing gear) to board an MV is unlikely to change.The number of skiffs in a Pirate Action Group (PAG) may change in response to factors employed by industry (such as armed security) and the method of getting those skiffs to the vicinity of shipping is evolving (use of dhows as pirate mother-ships), but the basic attack tactic is unlikely to change in a significant manner in the next six months; pirates will continue to reply on small high speed skiffs to actually board their target vessels.Vessels under attack will continue to witness the firing of small arms (assault rifles such as AK 47s) and limited use of Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs).The pirate intention in the use of these weapons is always to stop and slow the vessel rather than kill the crew or cause catastrophic damage. We do not expect major changes in this approach in the next six months.For further information, click here.Source: EU NAVFOR

A skiff launched attackon MV EJNAN in the Gulf of Aden On 19th June, EU NAVFOR Flag Ship, Portuguese frigate VASCO DA GAMA disrupted a skiff which was suspected of launching an attack on MV EJNAN in the Gulf of Aden earlier that day.The Portuguese warship intercepted a distress call from the MV EJNAN reporting that it was being attacked by a skiff. The VASCO DA GAMA was immediately tasked to proceed to the area in order to investigate the incident. During her approach, radio contact was maintained and several recommendations were passed to the merchant vessel trying to repel the attack. By following these directions the vessel fended off the pirates and reported being safe.The helicopter from EU NAVFOR British warship HMS RICHMOND, which was also tasked to respond, spotted the skiff which contained four suspected pirates. The individuals onboard realized that they had been located and began to throw the majority of their piracy paraphernalia overboard. The helicopter passed the position of the skiff to VASCO DA GAMA as she was the closest warship in the area. A few minutes later, VASCO DA GAMA's own helicopter intercepted the skiff and the boarding team was sent onboard.As there was ...

The Dhow changed course and made its way back toward Somalia On the morning of 10 June, the EU NAVFOR German warship FGS Niedersachsen detected a suspected Pirate Action Group (PAG) whilst conducting a routine patrol in the Southern Somali Basin.The PAG, which is suspected of carrying out a number of attacks on merchant vessels in the area, consisted of a fishing dhow and 2 attack skiffs. Small arms and Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG)s were also seen on board.As the Dhow was considered to be a real threat to shipping in the area, the German warship decided to disrupt the vessel but fears for the safety of the hostages on board prevented the Niedersachsen from taking direct action against the vessel.Instead, to remove the Dhow's ability to launch further attacks, the warship opened fire on the 2 attack skiffs sinking them in the process. Without attack skiffs, it is highly unlikely that the suspected pirates could successfully board a vessel.Having lost its skiffs, the Dhow changed course and made its way back toward Somalia.This disruption has undoubtedly hampered pirate action and avoided highly probable attacks on merchant shipping and vulnerable vessels in the area.Source: EU NAVFOR

Released from pirate captivity after being held for 207 days On the morning of the 8June it was confirmed that the MV YUAN XIANG had been released from pirate captivity after being held for 207 days. She was pirated on the 13 November 2010 approximately 650 nautical miles East of Salalah (Oman).The vessel has a crew of 29 Chinese and is heading to a safe port. No further information on the crew is available at present.Source: EU NAVFOR

AMISOM conducts peace support operations in Somalia As part of the EU/UN co-operation, EU NAVFOR is providing protection to the UN chartered vessels supplying the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).AMISOM is mandated to conduct Peace Support Operations in Somalia to stabilize the situation in the country in order to create conditions for the conduct of Humanitarian activities and an immediate take over by the United Nations (UN).The first AMISOM escort took place on the 6th February 2009 with the vessel departing Djibouti and arriving in Mogadishu.On completion of the 100th escort EU NAVFOR Operation Commander Major General Buster Howes OBE stated:The successful completion of the one hundredth escort of an AMISOM sustainment shipment today marks a significant milestone for the European Naval Force in Somalia. The protection of humanitarian and other vulnerable shipping against the scourge of piracy is central to my mission and is of direct benefit to the well-being of the Somali people and the success of the Transitional Federal Government. I am extremely proud of the men and women of European Navies who prosecute this essential, if unglamorous taskSource: EUNAVFOR