An Iranian fishing vessel captured by pirates in Somalia?
(B2) An Iranian fishing boat was reportedly captured by Somali pirates off the coast of Somalia, “ this week “, announces AFP, quoting an official from UNODC (the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime). The fishing vessel would have been in an illegal fishing situation. However, this information raises some questions. B2 was able to get Alan Cole, the UNODC official, who confirmed the information. On the side of the European maritime anti-piracy force (EUNAVFOR) present in the area, we are more cautious and we just confirm " investigate on this case.
If it were to be confirmed, Ce would thus be the first capture of the pirates for almost three years and the boarding of the Greek tanker Mv Smyrni May 10, 2012 in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Oman (read: Another ship freed from pirates).
Iranian tankers repeatedly attacked in the Gulf of Aden?
For its part, the Iranian news agency (IRNA) mentions that the Iranian navy has foiled several pirate attacks against Iranian tankers in the Gulf of Aden and in the Indian Ocean.
The latest attack was foiled on Wednesday (March 25) morning, when a group of 32 pirates - aboard 4 fast skiffs, assisted by a whaler, presumably playing the role of the mother ship - tried to storm a tanker in the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, which controls the entrance to the Red Sea, between Yemen and Djibouti.
Another attack was reported on Sunday (March 22) when several pirates, aboard two skiffs, tried to stop the tanker near the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait by opening fire. A first intervention by the navy was not enough. Three hours later, the pirates aboard six skiffs, this time went back on the attack with "semi-heavy weapons" specifies Irna (RPGs no doubt). " They were forced to withdraw after several hours of firefights. This is the most severe commitment of the Iranian Navy in their mission to protect Iranian merchant ships “says the command of the Iranian navy.
On February 3, the Iranian Navy's 33rd Fleet — consisting of the destroyer Shahid Qandi, of the logistics vessel Bandar Abbas and the submarine Tariq — had also foiled two separate pirate attacks on Iranian tankers on the high seas.
Incidents that have not been reported by the maritime forces present in the area (in particular EUNAVFOR *) such as maritime professional sources (BMI). NB: it is true that the Iranian navy is the only navy present in the area that is not part of the "information sharing and deconfliction" system (Shade) which includes all NATO ships, European, Asian and Russians, active in the fight against piracy.
(NGV)
(*) The NATO "Ocean Shield" force is no longer permanently present in the area.