IMO-led workshop focused on information sharing to boost maritime security in Western Indian Ocean

Regional efforts to enhance maritime security are dependent on good information sharing, through multi-agency National Maritime Information Sharing Centres. An IMO-led regional workshop on information sharing in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden ((3-5 March) brought together participants from 14 signatory States to the Djibouti Code of Conduct (DCoC) and its Jeddah Amendment, which aims to counter and suppress crime in the maritime domain.

Participants discussed how best to set up national maritime information sharing centres and agreed on the need to establish legal frameworks at national level, to ensure coordination and full participation of all agencies.

The workshop was organised following the establishment last year of a Working Group on Information Sharing. This was part of a plan of action adopted by States in the western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden area to ensure better coordination of regional efforts to enhance maritime security. Recommendations from the workshop will be fed into the next Jeddah Amendment high-level workshop, scheduled to be held later this year.

The workshop was held at the Djibouti Regional Training Centre (DRTC), Djibouti, and attended by 24 participants from Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania (United Republic of), and Yemen. The workshop was organized by IMO and supported by the United Kingdom, who provided technical experts. Funding came from a Japanese contribution to the DCoC Trust Fund to support training activities at the DRTC.

Source: imo.org

CTF151 undertakes Focused Op IKARUS

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

UKMTO reports numerous skiff sightings in Gulf of Aden

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.

Saudi-Led coalition carries out an operation in Yemen’s Salif: state TV

File image of suspected Houthi SVBIED (boat bomb), via http://crfimmadagascar.org

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

Drugs worth $33m seized in Sri Lanka’s biggest ever bust

Navy seizes vessel with 400kg heroin and 100kg crystal methamphetamine near capital Colombo.

Two foreign trawlers packed with over $33m worth of heroin and crystal methamphetamine were seized in Sri Lanka’s biggest-ever drugs bust at sea, a navy spokesman said on Thursday.

Troops found 400kg (about 880 pounds) of heroin and 100kg (about 220 pounds) of the drug “ice” on board the two vessels, spokesman Isuru Sooriyabandara said.

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Source: aljazeera.com

Russian Baltic Fleet warship visits Sri Lanka in anti-piracy deployment to Indian Ocean

Photo: PO Lee Blease/MOD via Wikipedia and OGL

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 Forces Report Attempted Bomb-Boat Attack on Tanker off Yemen

The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen: Thwarting a Terrorist Attack Targeting an Oil Tanker in the Arabian Sea. Image via Saudi Press Agency

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

Maritime security concerns in Gulf of Aden

Tradewinds today (March 4th) reports that two tankers and a LNG carrier took evasive action off the coast of Yemen to avoid a ‘cluster of suspicious skiffs’. One vessel reported an approach to around 130m, but none of the vessels was attacked.

The news comes during a period of apparent increased suspicious activity in the region, with reports of approaches off Djibouti and in the IRTC in the Gulf of Aden at the end of February, as well as the beginning of March.

So far, no agency is identifying the incidents as piracy-related, given that no obvious piracy ‘tripwires’ were reported (these would include sightings of weapons, ladders and so on). The news will not please the shipping industry, given the peace enjoyed by seafarers off the Somali coast in recent years.

Despite the fall in piracy, the nature of threats in the region continues to evolve, with rebels allied to the al Houthi cause threatening Saudi coalition vessels in the Red Sea, and the news that naval mines have been seen in the region; one report recently suggested that three fishing vessel crew were killed by a mine in early February.

France declares Strait of Hormuz military mission fully operational

Joanne Stocker

France this week declared the military component to its maritime surveillance and security mission in the strategic Strait of Hormuz fully operational.

Operation Agenor, the military component of the European-led Maritime Situation Awareness in the Strait of Hormuz (EMASOH) initiative, was declared at full operational capacity in a ceremony at a French base in the Abu Dhabi on February 25, the Ministry for the Armed Forces said on Thursday.

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Source: thedefensepost.com

Dutch Navy patrols Strait of Hormuz for European security mission

Zr. Ms. De Ruyter is officially deployed in the Strait of Hormuz. There, the navy ship participates in the European security mission. This mission intends to reduce tensions in the area around Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Between these countries, the Strait of Hormuz is an important sailing route from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean.

“This mission is about free passage,” Commander Naval Forces Deputy Admiral Rob Kramer told the crew. “Your presence in this area alone is incredibly important.” Something that also emphasized Foreign Minister Stef Blok. He was in the region to talk to authorities from Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, hoping to relieve tensions in the region.

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Source: navyrecognition.com