Latest piracy news (February 17, 2013). Calm in the Indian Ocean, not in West Africa…
(BRUSSELS2) The "piracy" front remains calm in the Indian Ocean. One explanation is weather. The northern monsoon season is leading to deteriorating sailing conditions. But the anti-piracy coalitions call for vigilance in risk areas and not to relax self-protection measures. Because pirate groups continue to operate in certain areas. On the West African side, however, the attacks continue. Two ships, one French, the other British were attacked in quick succession.
Three sailors from L'Esther C taken hostage in the Gulf of Guinea, piracy extends to West Africa
Pirates took three sailors prisoner from a British-flagged freighter, Esther C. in the Gulf of Guinea, Thursday (February 7). Two of the sailors are Russian, the third is Romanian according to the BBC. The cargo ship was sailing in the Gulf between Douala (Cameroon) and Malabo (Equatorial Guinea) when the pirates stormed it. They stole equipment and then left with three of the sailors. The rest of the crew, 9 Filipinos, was able to continue the journey. A French tanker, the Gascogne, flying the Luxembourg flag, with 17 Togolese crew members, was hijacked on Sunday (February 3) off the coast of Ivory Coast, before being released on Wednesday (February 6).
The Louise-Marie on the way back
The Belgian frigate Louise-Marie is on its way back, we learned from EUnavfor Atalanta HQ. She had been engaged in the Indian Ocean and along the coast of Somalia since November 23, 2012. During this period, the Belgian military arrested two pirate action groups, provided escort for the World Food Program (WFP) ship and rescued 10 Indian sailors - in difficulty - in conjunction with the French frigate Surcouf.
The Rayo left Cartagena for the Indian Ocean
The "Maritime Action Vessel" Thunderbolt will be deployed in the European Union's anti-piracy mission (Eunavfor Atalanta). Based in Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, left the Cartagena port for the Indian Ocean on Friday (February 15). He will serve from May to July in Atalanta after a journey on the African coast which will take him to stops in Mauritania and Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Gabon, Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania. This initiative is part of the diplomatic defense plan aimed at increasing activity in the countries of West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea, considered as an area of strategic interest. for Spain. The Rayo recently entered service on May 14. class Meteor, it has an on-board AB-212 helicopter. Under the command of Lieutenant Commander Rafael Hernández Rodríguez, it comprises 84 sailors as well as helicopter support personnel and a team of Marines from the Tercio de Levante Task Force.
