We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
Ali Rabee
The Yemeni government has reiterated its warnings against possible disastrous consequences of the explosion or spill at Safer offshore oil platform, which floats off Hodeidah’s northern Red Sea coast.
Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani has listed in a series of tweets the most disastrous consequences.
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Source: aawsat.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
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
DUBAI (Reuters) – Naval forces from the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen on Sunday foiled an “imminent terrorist” attack by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in the southern Red Sea, a major commercial shipping channel, the coalition said.
The forces destroyed an unmanned boat laden with explosives that was launched from Hodeidah province in western Yemen, coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki said in a statement on Saudi state news agency SPA, without identifying the targets.
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Source: reuters.com
Bangladesh Coast Guard on Thursday requested journalists not to use the word ‘piracy’ or ‘pirate’ while referring to robbery incidents on inland and coastal waterways.
The word ‘piracy’ on sea refers to robbery or criminal incidents outside the maritime boundary of the country while the incidents handled by the coast guards occur along the coast of the country and is thus robbery, said a release.
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Source: newagebd.net
The South Korean government is likely to send military forces to join a US-led multinational coalition to defend the Strait of Hormuz early next year.
According to military sources, the 4,400-ton destroyer Wang Geon of the Cheonghae anti-piracy unit is scheduled to leave Busan late this month to relieve the destroyer Kang Gam-chan which is currently operating in the Gulf of Aden.
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Source: koreaherald.com
The Mozambican authorities are detaining 12 Iranians caught allegedly shipping drugs off the coast of the northern province of Cabo Delgado.
The boat was intercepted on Saturday in a joint operation carried out by the Mozambican navy and the National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic).
The interception occurred about 50km (31 miles) from the Mozambican coast.
Occupants of the vessel are said to have set it on fire moments before their arrest.
Police say the fire destroyed the approximately 1.5 tonnes of heroin suspected to be on board.
They then jumped off the ship into the Mozambique Channel. Three of them died, while 12 others were rescued by the navy.
The suspects, all of Iranian nationality, are being detained in the provincial capital, Pemba.
Local media reports indicate the operation resulted from intelligence gathered from the various agencies involved in fighting against drug trafficking.
Source: bbc.co.uk
Regular readers will know that I try to ensure all news published here is relevant and factual. In recent days, I’ve noticed that a number of historical articles relating to piracy in West and East Africa as well as incidents of abduction in SE Asia have appeared online.
Often, this occurs because news sites are updating databases or re-loading previously deleted items. However, for anyone searching for open source maritime security items, there’s a clear danger of confusion. Today, I’ve seen several sites post and then delete items which relate to the hijacking of the MV Aris 13, an incident I was heavily involved in and which helped to resolve.
The bottom line is that if you get your intel from open sources, make sure you verify it. If not, you could end up sharing something alarming, but which happened several years ago…
TEHRAN, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) — Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) will hold a large-scale naval exercise in the country’s southern waters, Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.
Commander of the IRGC’s Navy Ali Reza Tangsiri told Tasnim that the massive naval war game will be launched in the near future.
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Source: xinhuanet.com
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