(openPR) With an increase in maritime traffic and yachts transiting through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, a spokesperson for the Combined Task Force 151 (CT151), a multinational naval force set up in 2009, explained how CT151 was trying to improve protection for vessels in the area and to increase maritime security.
He said that the number of yachts passing through the area has increased since the worst year for piracy in the area but they were not required to register with the Royal Navy’s United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations (UKMTO) or the European Union Naval Force’s Maritime Centre Horn of Africa (MSCHOA), although many do, nor are they required to use AIS.
It makes them difficult to track in the same way merchant vessels are tracked. The ability to assess the real traffic is hindered as a result. Tracking vessels by AIS and through the UKMTO allows CT151 to respond quickly to a security incident. It also allows an assessment of the preferred routes through the area.
He added that piracy had been suppressed and there had not been any successful attacks this year and the number of incidents was significantly lower than 5 years ago.
11 September The latest ReCAAP report stated that in August 2018 there had been eight registered armed robbery incidents (seven actual and one attempted), a slight decrease on the number reported in July (9 incidents). There had been no reported piracy incidents during August. A total of 57 incidents (45 actual and 12 attempted) had been reported to and verified by ReCAAP over the period January to August 2018. Of these, 54 were armed robbery and three piracy. Compared to the same period in 2017, there had been an increase of 5% over the 54 (46 actual and 8 attempted) recorded incidents.
17 September STI Hammersmith, a MR1 tanker, was attacked by pirates while anchored near Conakry, Guinea, in the Gulf of Guinea. The vessel was boarded by four armed men. The master raised the alarm, locked the accommodation and all the crew mustered in the citadel. The pirates shot at the bridge windows, gained access to the accommodation area, ransacked crew cabins and escaped with personal belongings. A naval vessel arrived at the scene and the pirates fled. All the crew were reported safe.
22 September Geneva based Massoel Shipping, operators of MV Glarus, a Swiss bulk carrier transporting wheat, issued a statement saying pirates had kidnapped 12 members of the crew after boarding the vessel while it was sailing between Lagos and Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The attack happened about 45nms south west of Bonny Island. There were 19 crew members on board. It was later reported that among the 12 kidnapped crew were nationals of the Philippines, Slovenia, Ukraine, Romania, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Massoel said the pirates had used long ladders to board the vessel, cut the razor wire on deck before gaining access to the bridge and destroying much of the vessel’s communications equipment. On 25 September, the Philippine Ambassador to Nigeria said that seven Filipino crew members had been kidnapped and five Filipinos along with two foreign nationals had been left on the vessel but it was not immediately clear why they had not been taken. Massoel Shipping confirmed it was in contact with the pirates and added “it is understood” that the crew members are together, well and unharmed. The MV Glarus was reported to be safely alongside at Port Harcourt with the remaining seven crew members on board.
27 September The Portuguese Navy announced that it had prevented a piracy attack in Venezuelan waters. The Portuguese Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre (MAOC)/Search & Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC Lisbon) received an alert from a Norwegian merchant ship and a French fishing vessel saying that a merchant vessel flying the Marshall Islands flag in transit near Las Borracha Island, Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, was in imminent danger from two armed men in a skiff. The Portuguese Navy Shipping Centre alerted Venezuela’s Coast Guard who sent two rigid hulled inflatable boats to the scene. On their approach, the two pirates left the ship and fled.
Source: Griffin via i.b.s.®
https://www.ibs-ops.com
https://www.ibs-ops.com/dienstleistungen/maritime-sicherheit-schiffssicherheit/
