We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
For Japan and the international community, the waters off the coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden are extremely important sea lanes.
In response to the piracy incidents in the area, Ministry of Defense (MOD) and Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) takes measures for counter-piracy operations.
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Source: sldinfo.com
As the situation with COVID-19 novel coronavirus continues to evolve, states are increasingly taking measures to restrict the movements of personnel into and within their borders. A number of states have effectively closed their borders to people coming from perceived high-risk areas. These travel restrictions are placing a considerable logistical burden on the wider shipping industry and are very likely to increase as time goes on.
With such an evolving situation, there is a corresponding increase in uncertainty, according to Dryad Global. An example of this was seen in the recent decision by Sri Lanka to close its border to people coming from several countries, which led to potentially significant disruption in the embarkation and movement of Armed Security Teams (ASTs). With the corresponding confusion, Private Military Security Companies (PMSCs) were required to find alternative embarkation points for weapons and teams, and shipping companies faced increased ambiguities around the provision of security teams and potentially significantly increased costs. Whilst the ban on AST embarkation at Galle has since been lifted, Dryad assesses that while the situation evolves at pace, this decision will be under continuous review. At the time of writing Malaysia, which was a proposed alternative embarkation and disembarkation point, has significantly restricted foreign access.
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Source: defenceweb.co.za
Somalia is set to join the list of port States for the first time after it completed development of Somali shipping code. The development of the code will enable the country to discharge its responsibilities as flag, port and coastal state.
Maritime development in Somalia announced the completion of the shipping code early this week after six years of work, supported by International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM).
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Source: businessdailyafrica.com
Somalia has sought assistance from the global anti-piracy forces to help it capture 43 boats from Pakistan and Iran that are conducting illegal fishing operations in the Horn of African nation’s waters.
The Somali Federal Government has accused the two countries of continuing illegal fishing in Somalia waters, warning the boats will be pursued and will be liable to pay heavy fines upon their capture.
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Source: somaliaffairs.com
Today, Rear Admiral lgnacio Villanueva Serrano was appointed as new force commander for the EU naval operation Atalanta. His mandate will start on 17 March.
He will exercise command and control of all military forces in the Area of Operations during the 34th rotation, and will be responsible for the planning, orchestration and execution of tactical military activities.
Rear Admiral Villanueva Serrano, a Spanish national, will take command from Commodore José Vizinha Mirones. He previously held senior positions within the Spanish Maritime Forces (SPMAFOR), and was Commanding Officer of the Spanish Navy Air Wing. He also served at the headquarters of NATO’s Allied Command Operations as capability requirements and force planning officer, and in Pristina, Kosovo, working as peace observer and liaison officer between the NATO and UN missions in Kosovo.
The decision on Rear Admiral Villanueva Serrano’s appointment was adopted by the Council’s Political and Security Committee.
EU NAVFOR Operation Atalanta, contributes to the deterrence, prevention and repression of acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast. The operation is part of the EU’s comprehensive approach for a peaceful, stable and democratic Somalia.
The operation also protects vessels of the World Food Programme and other vulnerable shipping, monitors fishing activities off the coast of Somalia and supports other EU missions and programmes in the region.
The EU’s comprehensive approach to Somalia comprises diplomatic efforts, development support, humanitarian aid as well as engagement in the field of rule of law and law enforcement. It includes three complementary missions under the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy: EU NAVFOR Operation Atalanta, EUCAP Somalia, enhancing Somalia’s maritime civilian law enforcement capacity and EUTM Somalia, providing political and strategic level military advice to the Somali authorities and contributing to the development of the Somali National Army (SNA)’s own training capacity.
Source: consilium.europa.eu
Combined Task Force 151 (CTF151) recently completed Focused Operation IKARUS (FO IKARUS) around the Somali Coast, the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden, raising awareness of their presence in the area and ensuring information flow and coordination between CTF151’s headquarters, its ships and other agencies in the region.
The international operation was supported by partners including Djibouti, the French Marine Nationale, the Seychelles People’s Defence Force, the Japanese Navy, Spanish Navy and Republic of Korean (ROK) Navy.
Over a three day period, units conducted a boarding exercise, medical evacuation exercise and pattern of life data gathering. Units also engaged with the local merchant community through conducting friendly approaches and maritime awareness calls. These activities worked to successfully reassure legitimate mariners that CTF151 is constantly monitoring and patrolling to deter and disrupt piracy in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.
The activities were not limited solely to the units at sea; information gathering activities helped to develop the maritime picture, assisting Commanders’ understanding of the situation. United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) was busy gathering data and ensuring information flow across the units, whilst the Canadian satellite Unclassified Remote-Sensing Situational Awareness (URSA) was tasked with gathering data from space.
The main exercise serial was a simulated incident, with a merchant vessel boarded by pirates. The regional counter-piracy effort sprang into action. Two boarding teams from the ROK Navy and the Spanish Navy suppressed the threat and took back the ship. To make things a little more complex, a simulated casualty incident immediately ensued, testing the interoperability between units in the region. CMF successfully coordinated a helicopter lift for the “casualty” and arranged evacuation to a French Marine Nationale hospital in Djibouti.
Overall, FO IKARUS was a hugely successful exercise, acting as a deterrent against piracy by increasing CMF and other key regional partners’ visibility and exposure in the area of operations, and effectively testing every level of command, from the boarding parties to the CTF151 headquarters staff.
This was one of the final operations conducted by the Kuwait Navy, before they handed over command of CTF151 to the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force in February. The Japanese will command the mission to deter and disrupt maritime piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean for the next four months.
Source: combinedmaritimeforces.com
Following an incident involving a suspected Houthi SVBIED (boat bomb) in the Gulf of Aden, UKMTO reports that it has received “numerous” reports of skiff sightings in the Gulf itself, in position 1222.03N-04357.09E, in the vicinity of Point A on the IRTC.
While pattern of life sightings are not unusual, there is growing concern that a number of the vessels sighted are unmanned, leading to the suspicion that they are SVBIEDs waiting to be deployed.
So far, the threat posed by Houthi rebels to shipping off Yemen in both the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has been limited to vessels belonging to Saudi coalition forces, currently engaged in fighting in Yemen. However, the risk posed by rebels wrongly identifying a Saudi vessel should not be downlplayed.
All vessels are advised to adopt BMP 5 measures and ensure that UKMTO and other agencies are aware of their presence in the region.
CAIRO (Reuters) – The Saudi-Led coalition fighting in Yemen carried out an operation against Iran-aligned Houthi targets in Yemen’s port district, Salif, Saudi state TV reported late on Saturday, citing the coalition.
The coalition said it destroyed sites used to assemble and launch explosives-laden boats and drones that pose a threat to maritime shipping lines in the Red Sea’s Bab al-Mandeb strait.
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Source: reuters.com
Yaroslav Mudry guard ship will search for a notional enemy’s submarine with a Ka-27 helicopter’s take-off while the anti-terror squads on the ships and vessels will practice various scenarios of fighting pirates in the Indian Ocean
MOSCOW, March 4. /TASS/. The Baltic Fleet guard ship Yaroslav Mudry has made a planned business call at the port of Colombo in Sri Lanka in its anti-piracy deployment to the Indian Ocean, the Fleet’s press office reported on Wednesday.
“During its anchorage in Colombo, the crew will replenish fresh water, fuel and food supplies and technically inspect the ship. After completing its visit that will last through March 6, the Baltic Fleet guard ship will continue its anti-piracy watch in the Indian Ocean,” the press office said in a statement.
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Source: lankaweb.com
Saudi Arabia’s military said Wednesday that its forces prevented an “imminent terrorist attack” against an oil tanker about 90 nautical miles southeast of Nishtun, Yemen in the Arabian Sea.
“The failed terrorist attempt was carried out at [1439 hours] on Tuesday 03 March 2020 during the [voyage] of the oil tanker headed to Aden port. The attempt was carried out using (4) boats and attempting to bomb the oil tanker using one of the unmanned, remote-controlled exploding boats,” said Saudi spokesman Col. Turki Al-Malki in a statement.
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Source: maritime-executive.com
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