Tag: Gulf of Aden

The Chinese Navy is once again sending forces to Somalia to target piracy in the Gulf of Aden The Chinese Navy is once again sending forces to Somalia to target piracy in the Gulf of Aden. China first began patrolling the waters along with an international flotilla in 2008. Since then, it's undertaken ten such missions - protecting some 4500 ships.The farewell ceremony is becoming more and more familiar to the Chinese navy these days. A fleet left the port Qingdao on Monday morning, ready to carry out its orders.Yang Junfei, fleet commander, said, "Fleet 113 ready for duty." Ding Yiping, deputy commander of Chinese navy, said, "Set Sail!"The fleet brings a destroyer, missile frigate, support ship, 2 helicopters and special forces to bear on the region - a total of 800 naval personnel are involved.The UN Security Council has been urging member countries to combat piracy along the Somali coast since the 1990s. The Chinese navy joined in 4 years ago and has been an active partner ever since.Last Thursday, The People's Liberation Army Navy held the International Symposium on Counter-Piracy and Escort Operations in China's eastern city of Nanjing. Delegations from more than 20 states and organizations gathered ...

Suspects have been transferred to FGS BERLIN and further investigations are ongoing On 22 February 2012, the EU NAVFOR combat support warship FGS BERLIN responded to a distress signal from a tanker that was under attack by suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden.On receipt of the radio call the FGS BERLIN immediately dispatched her two Seaking helicopters to the area while she closed and when the skiff had been relocated it was stopped and the suspect pirates immediately surrendered to the ship's boarding team.The suspects have been transferred to FGS BERLIN and further investigations are ongoing.Source: EU NAVFOR

Ship Tank RSS Endeavour The Republic of Singapore Navy's Landing Ship Tank RSS Endeavour slips off from Oman, and sets a course for the Gulf of Aden. On board are over 270 personnel and the hardware of the 3rd SAF Task Group deployed for operations there.Endeavour is just days away from the area of operations but the tri-service task group is already dealing with a mounting number of suspicious contacts.

At present, Admiral Tributs escorts five ships flying flags of Liberia, Malta, Croatia, and UAE Pacific Fleet (PF) task unit headed by Capt 1 rank Ildar Akhmerov and comprising large ASW ship Admiral Tributs, tanker Pechenga, and seagoing tug MB-37 started escorting of the fourth commercial convoy within the framework of anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden, PF spokesman Capt 1 rank Roman Martov told Central Navy Portal.At present, Admiral Tributs escorts five ships flying flags of Liberia, Malta, Croatia, and United Arab Emirates along safety corridor towards eastern part of the gulf.Seagoing tug MB-37 with PF marine unit on board also escorts one merchant ship towards the Red Sea.The seventh PF antipiracy task unit arrived in the deployment area early Jan 2012. Since that time PF mariners have escorted over 20 commercial vessels in convoys. The unit command met with NATO counterparts and held joint underway replenishment drill.Six previous PF task units deployed off Africa have effectively accomplished their anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden.All ships have specially trained PF marine units on board. Sixth PF task unit headed by large ASW ship Admiral Panteleyev is presently completing deployment and will reach homebase on Feb 12.Source: Russian ...

The Iranian ship is carrying 30,000 tonnes of petrochemical products Pirates in the Gulf of Aden have hijacked an Iranian ship carrying 30,000 tonnes of petrochemical products to a North African country, Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Tuesday.Somali sea gangs have seized vessels and crews across the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, extracting millions of dollars in ransoms.Mehr did not say where the information on the latest reported attack came from.Separately on Tuesday, the Pentagon said American forces had rescued six Iranian mariners who said their ship was taking in water off the coast off Iraq.The announcement came less than a week after U.S. naval forces rescued 13 Iranian fishermen who were taken hostage by pirates in the Arabian Sea for more than a month.The rescue operations have taken place at a moment of heightened tension between Washington and Tehran over Iran's nuclear programme, which the West suspects is aimed at building an atomic bomb. Tehran denies the charge, saying its nuclear activities are only for peaceful purposes.Tehran and Washington do not have formal diplomatic relations. The U.S. State Department last week said there had been no official communication with Iran about the first rescue, which ...

Pirates should not be under the illusion that the Christmas season is a good time to attack Earlier this week USS Carney, part of NATO's counter piracy task force Operation Ocean Shield, worked with other NATO forces and coalition partners to disrupt pirate activity in the Gulf of Aden.A Japanese maritime patrol aircraft patrolling the area on counter-piracy operations spotted a suspicious skiff with seven suspected pirates aboard and contacted the NATO flagship ITS Andrea Doria who in turn tasked USS Carney to investigate.In a co-ordinated operation, Carney approached the skiff, while the patrol aircraft circled overhead. As the warship appeared on the horizon the skiff attempted to flee however it stopped when hailed. The patrol aircraft and Carney observed the suspected pirates throwing items overboard. The items were visually confirmed by the patrol aircraft as ladders and other pirate-related equipment.A team from Carney boarded the skiff and after a thorough search seized the excess fuel and other items useful to piracy activity, before ensuring the skiff had enough fuel to return to the Somali coast.In 2009, 45 ships were hijacked in the region; so far in 2011, 21 ships have been hijacked effectively halving the number of ships taken. ...

Piracy has escalated in the Gulf ofAden - need for patroling They go on patrol with the EU force in the Pirate alley, also known as the Gulf of Aden. They're trying to stem the tide of piracy off the Somali coast.

26 pirates arrested Indian Naval ship, INS Sukanya, thwarted a piracy attack in the Gulf of Aden and captured three boats of the pirates.A statement from the Defence PRO says the incident happened yesterday when INS Sukanya was escorting a group of merchant vessels. Five pirate boats tried to attack these vessels but were challenged by the Indian Naval ship. After a brief skirmish, two of them managed to flee the area but three boats were captured by INS Sukanya, the statement said.The three boats had a total of 26 Somali crew onboard. During the operation, six AK-47 rifles, 12 magazines and about 300 rounds of ammunition were found and confiscated.The operation holds significance as over a hundred billion dollars of India's external trade passes each year through this busy sea lane. This is the fifth successful anti-piracy operation conducted by INS Sukanya, in the course of her ongoing patrol mission in the Gulf of Aden, which commenced in September.Source: NDTV

To sail the Gulf of Aden is like playing Russian Roulette Christian Colombo, a former French Navy sailor and his wife were on their way to fulfil their dream. They were sailing to see the world in their yacht, the SY TRIBAL KAT until this dream was destroyed in the most traumatic way.The TRIBAL KAT was attacked by Somali suspect criminals off the coast of Yemen while passing through the Gulf of Aden. Christian Colombo was killed during the attack, his body thrown overboard and his wife taken against her will by the suspect criminals. She was being moved by skiff towards Somalia when by a combination of good fortune, considering the vast area to be searched, and close cooperation between the counter-piracy forces in the region, a complex and dangerous rescue operation succeeded in recovering Mrs. Colombo uninjured.The SY TRIBAL KAT was only the most recent of about 10 yachts attacked and their crews captured by Somali suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean in the past three years.Nearly every recorded attack on a yacht has led to the crew being taken hostage and moved to Somalia where they were kept on land, their yachts ...

Indian Navy has so far prevented the hijacking of 39 cargo vessels Attacks by Somali pirates on two cargo ships in the Gulf of Aden were thwarted by an Indian Navy warship last week, navy officers said here Monday.INS Sukanya, an offshore patrol vessel on anti-piracy duty off the Somali coast, had deployed its marine commandos and a helicopter to ward off the sea brigands, who were approaching the two merchant ships, in separate incidents on Sep 20 and 24.The pirates were on high-speed skiffs and made threatening approaches towards the merchant ships that were being escorted by INS Sukanya in the Gulf of Aden.Though it was dark, the Sukanya crew detected the approaching skiffs and following laid-down operating procedure, warned the speed boats on radio to stay clear."When the boats did not heed the warnings, Sukanya launched her own high-speed boat with marine commandos to investigate the skiffs. After some time, an armed helicopter was also airborne to protect the vessel in the escort group," the officers said.The skiffs were stopped and boarded by the marine commandos, who carried out a search and confirmed the presence of pirates on board.The commandos also recovered arms and ammunition in the skiffs, ...