Latest piracy news (May 12, 2013)
(BRUSSELS2) Calm weather over the Indian Ocean. A single attack was reported in the Gulf of Aden On the other hand in West Africa, attacks and alerts follow one another, near Togo or Nigeria.
An attempted attack? in the Gulf of Aden
Four skiffs heading at high speed with three people aboard each skiff approached a tanker on May 5 in the Gulf of Aden, at 13° North and 48° West, reports the BMI, the International Maritime Bureau. " They split into two groups going to starboard. Two other skiffs were at a distance of 200m from the tanker when the armed security team fired warning shots resulting in the skiffs which then stopped the approach and moved away. The incident is however viewed with suspicion by the BMI, which has decided not to count it in its statistics. NB: this failure to take into account illustrates the remarks of an officer engaged in the fight against piracy having some doubts about certain alerts which looked more like self-justification of the action of private guards than a real threat .
Two attacks near Lomé
Eight people in a boat docked an anchored tanker in the harbor on Thursday (May 9) and attempted to board. The alert team spotted the approach and sounded the alarm. The Togolese navy was alerted. And a ship approached. Meanwhile, the fire hoses were put into action. And even though the pirate ship tried to go around the ship, it ended up giving up any attempt to attack. The entire crew was brought to safety.
Another attack occurred on May 5. During a ship-to-ship (STS) transfer operation, an oil tanker saw the armed pirates on the deck of the adjacent vessel. The alert has been given. The guards on board exchanged fire with the pirates. A large boat with eight to ten armed pirates was spotted shortly after leaving the adjacent ship and heading towards the tanker. Seeing this, the captain asked all crew members to retreat to the citadel and informed the Togolese Navy. Guards on board took necessary measures to prevent the pirates from boarding the tanker while the Togolese Navy dispatched two patrol vessels to provide assistance and escorted the tanker to port.
Denmark will participate in the Ocean Shield mission
The Danish frigate Iver Eightfeldt involved in the anti-piracy operation Ocean Shield (NATO) will return home. But this is not a final farewell. Denmark will continue to be actively engaged in this mission. A Challenger-type surveillance aircraft should thus be sent approximately two months from September to November in the two years 2013 and 2014 and the frigate Iver Eightfeldt should return to the Indian Ocean in October 2013 for a period of approximately three months and from July 2014 for a period of approximately six months.
Fire Fighting Training
During a stopover in Djibouti, sailors from the Carlskrona, the Swedish ship involved in the anti-piracy operation EUNAVFOR Atalanta, carried out firefighting training for 5 Djiboutian coastguards.
The training began with a classroom review of firefighting techniques and procedures, as well as a detailed explanation of the equipment available on board the Swedish ship.
The Coastguard then had the opportunity to try out some of the breathing apparatus used against the fire on board HSwMS Carlskrona. And practice extinguishing fires with different fire extinguishers - here an exercise in fighting a gasoline fire.
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