We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
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
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
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 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
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
CGPCS: ceremony handing over the presidency between Mauritius and Kenya, this Thursday, February 27
The handover ceremony for the presidency of the Contact Group on Piracy off the coast of Somalia (GCPCS) will be held at the Sofitel Hotel, Flic en Flac, this Thursday, February 27 at 9:30 a.m. Organized on the initiative of the Republic of Mauritius, in conjunction with the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), this ceremony will mark the end of two years of presidency by Mauritius in this international platform focused on the fight against piracy off the coast of Somalia.
At the end of this event, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mauritius, Nanda Bodha, will pass the torch to Kenya which will be represented by its Minister of Defence, Monica Juma.
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Source: inside.news
Tradewinds on Feb. 25th carried the above headline, following two suspicious approaches in the Gulf of Aden on Feb. 20th and 22nd.
On Feb. 20th, a merchant vessel reported a suspicious approach by three skiffs at 1824 UTC in the vicinity of the IRTC, SE of Al Mukalla, Yemen. The skiffs approached to within 1nm. No piracy equipment was reportedly sighted in this incident.
On Feb. 22nd, UKMTO state that another merchant vessel reported a suspicious approach by 11 skiffs with 4-5 persons on board, near Djibouti at the western end of the Gulf of Aden. Ladders were reportedly sighted in the skiffs and the vessel’s armed security team fired warning shots to deter any further approach. Both vessels are now described as safe.
While not confirmed as piracy incidents, the reports come in the wake of suggestions by some analysts that armed security teams are become less necessary in the Indian Ocean. However, ongoing instability in the Red Sea and off Yemen in the Gulf of Aden continue to present a significant risk to merchant shipping, with the Saudi Arabian coalition reporting the interception of a suspected Houthi SVBIED (boat bomb) in the Red Sea over the weekend of Feb. 22-23.
As is often stated, pirates or other threat actors only need to be successful once. The maritime industry needs to remain vigilant and avoid complacency in order to ensure smooth passage in the region. Adherence to BMP 5 should be maintained and Masters entering the region must contact UKMTO to inform them.
Defence analyst Helmoed Heitman is a firm believer in the dictum “you cannot control what you can’t patrol” and to this end maintains SA Navy deployments to the Mozambique Channel should continue.
His observation comes at a time when the maritime service of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) is preparing a platform for a stint in the waterway which carries much of South Africa’s seaborne goods and services.
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Source: defenceweb.co.za
SAS Drakensberg (A301) is steaming up the east coast of southern Africa loaded with a cargo of much-needed humanitarian aid following completion of an Operation Copper anti-piracy mission in the Mozambique Channel.
The humanitarian aid forms part of international support, including from South Africa, to assist in rebuilding cyclone damaged Mozambique. Estimates are Cyclone Idai, which hit Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe in March, caused damage running into billions of dollars, destroying houses, farms, roads and other infrastructure in the process.
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Source: defenceweb.co.za
SAS Drakensberg (A301) arrived on station in the northern sector of the Mozambique Channel this week for a duty tour that will see anti-piracy and anti-crime taskings executed.
This is not the first time the 32-year-old fleet replenishment ship has been deployed on Operation Copper, the ongoing bilateral anti-piracy operation involving Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states Mozambique and South Africa.
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Source: defenceweb.co.za
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