Tag: Gulf of Aden

A merchant vessel was attacked by pirates while sailing in the Gulf of Aden on 16 October, according to UKMTO. The attackers fired shots against the vessel, but the armed guards onboard returned the shots. The attackers abandoned their plan to board the ship and escaped on their skiff.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham seized an illicit weapons shipment found aboard a stateless skiff in the international waters of the Gulf of Aden, on August 28. Namely, the guided-missile destroyer found 2,521 AK-47 automatic rifles. The count follows an initial estimation of over 1,000 rifles.

Mauritius has become the 15th signatory to the Jeddah Amendment to the Djibouti Code of Conduct, the instrument developed and adopted by countries in the Western Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden focused on repressing piracy and armed robbery against ships operating in the region.

Regional conflict and piracy threats continue to pose potential risks to commercial vessels operating in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, and Indian Ocean, warned the US MARAD. US flagged commercial vessels are advised to avoid entering or loitering near Yemen’s Red Sea ports.

The Swedish P&I Club issued an alert informing that military confrontations have eased in the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, pending a political deal that would bring the rebels out of the city and hand over the port to a neutral UN-controlled body. The port of Hodeidah is open and operational. 

Charlie Stickland, the Operational Commander Major General of EU NAVFOR, met with Mr. Kitack Lim, Secretary-General of the IMO, on 11 May at IMO Headquarters in London. At the meeting, general Stickland updated the IMO Secretary-General on EU NAVFOR’s counter-piracy Operation Atalanta.

Two pirate skiffs, carrying a total of four pirates onboard, approached and fired upon a tanker, while underway in the Gulf of Aden, on 31st of March, according to IMB piracy reporting centre. The armed guards onboard the tanker returned fire, resulting in the pirates aborting the attack and moving away.

During the period of 20-26 February 18, one attempted incident of armed robbery against ships was reported to the ReCAAP ISC in Asia. Furthermore, two attempted incidents of piracy occurred outside Asia, in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia, on 18 and 23 February 18 respectively.

A merchant vessel was approached by pirates on a mother ship on the evening of Sunday, 21 January, in the Gulf of Aden, 90 nm South East of Mukallah, according to the maritime security company LSS-SAPU. The involved ship is said to be the Panama-flagged cement carrier 'NACC Valbella'.

Somalia has become the 14th signatory to the Jeddah Amendment to the Djibouti Code of Conduct. The Amendment broadened the scope of the Djibouti Code, covering measures for suppressing a range of illicit activities, including piracy, arms trafficking, trafficking in narcotics, human trafficking, human smuggling etc.