Russia-Japan Anti-Piracy Naval Drills To Be Held In Gulf Of Aden In Late January

EU NAVFOR Somalia Operation ATALANTA's ESPS Canarias towed the vessel belonging to Somali Navy personnel back to the Somali shore.

Russian-Japanese anti-piracy naval exercises in the Gulf of Aden will take place in late January, and will involve, for the first time, a task force from Russia‘s Baltic Fleet, Admiral Alexander Nosatov, the commander of the Baltic Fleet, said Monday.

“The ships of the Baltic Fleet took part in similar exercises with other countries, but never with the Japanese Navy … Anti-piracy exercises are upcoming, they will start sometime after the 20th of January, the planning stage is underway,” Nosatov told reporters.

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Source: urdupoint.com

Fed Govt loses over $7b yearly to piracy

By Oluwakemi Dauda

The Federal Government loses over $7 billion on freight cost yearly to criminal activities on the nation’s territorial waters, the former President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu, has said.

He called on the government to put in place measures to stem the tide of criminalities on the territorial waters.

Shittu, who spoke with The Nation on the sideline of a stakeholders forum organised by some auto importers in Lagos, added that the Federal Government needs to invest in maritime security and local capacity development to reduce piracy on the nation’s waters and get a sizeable chunk of the over $7 billion of the yearly freight cost.

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Source: thenationonlineng.net

JMSDF despatches two P-3C MPAs to Middle East on intelligence-gathering mission

Gabriel Dominguez

Amid tensions between Washington and Tehran, Tokyo despatched two P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) to the Middle East on 11 January to carry out intelligence-gathering operations in the region aimed at helping ensure the safety of vessels conducting commercial operations with Japan.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) mission, which was approved by the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on 27 December 2019, will also include the deployment to the region of Takanami-class destroyer JS Takanami , which is due to leave the Yokosuka naval base near Tokyo on 2 February.

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Source: janes.com

Unprecedented number of crew kidnappings in the Gulf of Guinea despite drop in overall global numbers

Despite overall piracy incidents declining in 2019, there was an alarming increase in crew kidnappings across the Gulf of Guinea, according to the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) annual piracy report.

In 2019, IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre received 162 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships worldwide, in comparison to 201 reported incidents in 2018. The incidents included four hijacked vessels, 11 vessels fired upon, 17 attempted attacks, and 130 vessels boarded, according to the latest IMB figures. While the overall decline in piracy incidents is an encouraging development, vessels remain at risk in several regions, especially the Gulf of Guinea.

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Source: iccwbo.org

Nigerian Navy shocked, angry

Philip Nwosu

Miffed by the audacity of some pipeline vandals in Lagos, operatives of the Nigerian Navy working under the Defence headquarters operations to clear the Lagos and Ogun areas of vandals, have shut down over 300 illegal oil wells in the Atlas Cove area of Lagos.

The wells, it was gathered, were dug above the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipelines transporting imported petroleum product from Atlas Cove to the Mosomi depot of the organization.

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Source: sunnewsonline.com

4 Chinese nationals abducted in Gabon pirate attack rescued: consulate

Four Chinese nationals abducted by pirates during a late December attack in waters off Owendo port in Libreville, Gabon’s capital were rescued recently in Nigeria, the Chinese Consulate to Lagos confirmed on Sunday.

An official from the consulate told Xinhua the consulate has been working closely with Nigerian police and navy in the rescue efforts since the consulate was aware that the four Chinese nationals had been taken to Nigeria.

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Source: https://www.shine.cn

FS COURBET Makes First Bust of 2020

On Sunday, 5 January 2020, French Ship (FS) COURBET, in direct support of Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150), seized 1,500 kg of hashish from a vessel in the Arabian Sea.

This is the second seizure for frigate FS COURBET in the last 30 days and the third for Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150) since Australia assumed command in early December 2019.

Using their shipborne helicopter, FS COURBET detected the suspicious vessel and dispatched a boarding team to conduct a search. The team was able to uncover 1,500 kg of hashish hidden among unused fishing gear.

The estimated regional wholesale value of these narcotics is $780,000 U.S. dollars. The retail value of this shipment, had it reached Africa or Europe, is many times higher.

“To the terrorists who profit from the drug trade in this region, the loss of this shipment and two others in the last 30 days, represents a considerable hit to their funding,” said Commodore Ray Leggatt, Royal Australian Navy, the Commander of CTF 150.

He added “CTF 150 will continue to apply pressure with the help of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) participating nations and ships like FS COURBET. The crew of FS COURBET has been outstanding every time they have supported CTF 150 and we thank them for another job well done.”

Australian lead, CTF 150’s staff is made up of personnel from the Royal Australian, Royal Canadian, and Royal New Zealand navies. CTF 150’s mission is to disrupt terrorist organisations and their related illegal activities by restricting their freedom of manoeuvre in the maritime domain.

The activities of CTF 150 are a critical part of global counter-terrorism efforts, as terrorist organisations are denied a risk-free method of conducting operations or moving personnel, weapons or income-generating narcotics and charcoal. The cooperation and support of CMF participating nations including France is a key mission enabler.

The 33 nations of CMF work together with regional and other partners to improve overall security and stability in the Gulf, help strengthen regional nations’ maritime capabilities, and when requested, respond to environmental and humanitarian crises. This counter narcotics operation is just the latest example of cooperation in action.

Source: combinedmaritimeforces.com

Saudi Arabia Woos Horn of Africa States to Protect Red Sea, Gulf of Aden

By Mawahib Abdallatif

Saudi Arabia’s move to pool countries in the Horn of Africa into a co-operation council for the Red Sea and Gulf Aden suggests officials in Riyadh are desperate to pull the region from other Middle Eastern powers.

On January 6, Riyadh hosted several foreign ministers from the Horn countries to a meeting addressed by Saudi King Salman, where it was resolved that they will form the Council of Arab and African States on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

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Source: allafrica.com

Purchased from China, 2 Warships Dock in Bangladeshi Port

Courtesy of ISPR, Bangladesh Defense Ministry

Kamran Reza Chowdhury

Two warships that Bangladesh purchased from China arrived in the South Asian nation on Thursday, officials said, less than three months after Dhaka confirmed it was negotiating to buy fighter jets and combat helicopters from the United States.

The frigates – renamed the Umar Farooq and the Abu Ubaidah – had been decommissioned by the Chinese navy and symbolically handed over to the Bangladeshi navy in China in December.

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Source: benarnews.org

Japan to go ahead with Mideast naval mission on Friday

Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono will order Friday a destroyer and patrol planes of the Maritime Self-Defense Force to engage in an information-gathering mission in the Middle East, government sources said.

The mission, approved by the Cabinet late last year, is intended to help secure the safe passage of Japanese commercial ships through regional waters at a time when it remains uncertain a tense situation between the United States and Iran can be diffused.

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Source: english.kyodonews.net