S. Korea to send troops to Hormuz Strait independently to safeguard people, vessels

SEOUL, Jan. 21 (Yonhap) — South Korea will dispatch troops to the Strait of Hormuz by expanding operational areas of its anti-piracy unit deployed nearby to help protect its vessels passing through the strategic waterway, the defense ministry announced Tuesday.

The forces, however, will not join a U.S.-led coalition, but conduct independent operations, the ministry noted, apparently in consideration of relations with Tehran and Washington’s request for contribution to its campaign to secure the waters off Iran.

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Source: en.yna.co.kr

Eight Countries Back European-Led Naval Mission In Strait Of Hormuz

Eight European Union member states have given their support for a European-led maritime surveillance mission in the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic route for world oil supplies.

Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, and Portugal backed the new force, they said in a “political statement” issued by France’s Foreign Ministry on January 20.

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Source: rferl.org

Iran seizes 3 trespassing Kuwaiti fishing boats, arrests crew

The Islamic Revolution Guard Crops Navy announced that its forces have seized three trespassing Kuwaiti fishing boats off the coast of Mahshahr, Khuzestan province.

According to Captain Alireza Ahmadi, the commander of IRGC’s Imam Hassan fleet, the boats had illegally entered Iran’s territorial waters.

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Source: en.mehrnews.com

Seoul exploring own way to contribute security in Hormuz

By Jung Da-min

Presidential Chief of Staff Noh Young-min said Thursday that the government could seek its own way to protect the lives and properties of Koreans in the Strait of Hormuz rather than participating in a U.S.-led naval coalition policing the region.

His remarks came amid Washington’s increasing pressure on Seoul to participate in the International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC), a coalition of countries including the United States, Saudi Arabia, the U.K. and Bahrain sending naval units to the area to safeguard navigation.

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Source: koreatimes.co.kr

New Red Sea alliance borne out of urgent necessity

Albadr Alshateri

The Red Sea has been attracting an increasing amount of attention from Gulf states in recent years. Saudi Arabia and the UAE offered $3 billion in aid to Sudan following the ouster of former dictator Omar Al Bashir, and some states have intervened as part of the Combined Task Force off the coast of Somalia to help combat piracy in the area. Also just last week, this trend culminated in the creation of a special council for Arab and African nations bordering the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, at a conference held in Riyadh this month.

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Source: thenational.ae

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.

Umer Jamshaid

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

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

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