Despite the Olympics, the British Navy keeps an eye on piracy. Yes Yes…
(BRUSSELS2) The Royal Navy issued a press release recently to explain the intervention of one of its minehunters to the rescue of a merchant ship which had an engine failure. One way to respond to certain criticisms heard in the United Kingdom (see also: The British desert the fight against piracy) and to recall that not all of its ships are reserved for the protection of the Olympic Games and that there are still a few on the globe, in particular to ensure the fight against piracy.
HMS Middleton and HMS Pembroke were in the Gulf of Aden on their way home when they received a distress call from MV New Delhi Express. The 40.000 ton ship - flying the Hong Kong flag and operated by Hapag-Lloyd of Hamburg - had an engine failure. Which, in the area, presented a risk.
« The threat of piracy in the Gulf of Aden is still real and present explains the Commanding Officer of HMS Middleton, Steve Higham. " The disabled and engineless MV New Delhi Express became a prime target for pirates.. The monsoon rains force, in fact, the pirates of the seas to concentrate their action more particularly on the Gulf, between Somalia and Yemen. The two warships which were only 19 miles from the merchant ship therefore went " immediately to offer him protection. This illustrates the values and flexibility of the Royal Navy minehunting community " he added. The British Navy permanently maintains several minehunting vessels, based in Bahrain, where the "warm waters help to provide a different training environment for our crews compared to British (cold) waters", specifies the HQ of Marine.
