The pirate camps seen at water level; a submarine in action

The periscope at water level is rather discreet... and at least not easily identifiable by pirates. For two months, the Dutch submarine, Hr. Ms. Zeeleeuw, sailed as close as possible to the Somali coast, in complete discretion, as part of NATO's anti-piracy mission, "Ocean Shield". This "intelligence" means thus supplements the other means deployed in the area (EUNAVFOR maritime patrol aircraft) and helicopters on board ships.

An intelligence mission "of great utility", according to the Dutch navy, which made it possible to collect "valuable information" on the modes of action and organization of the Somali pirates.

At stake, in particular, a location and a census of the various pirate camps installed on the coast, and the various "routes" followed by the "forbans of the sea" to regain the open sea.

This monitoring also made it possible to give the alert, "very early" on groups of boats setting sail; the baton was then passed to the ships present in the area, such as the HMS Montrose, to carry out preventive interceptions. It's not officially said. But it also seems certain that the submarine was thus able to trace the whereabouts of the pirates on board the captured ships.