Saudi-led coalition in Yemen says explosive-laden boats destroyed

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

Coalition says two boats belonged to the Houthis and were threatening navigation, according to Saudi’s SPA news agency.

The Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthi group in Yemen has destroyed two explosive-laden boats in the Red Sea on Thursday, the coalition’s spokesperson said.

The two remotely controlled boats belonged to Houthi forces and were threatening navigation, according to the spokesperson’s statement carried on Saudi state news agency SPA.

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Source: aljazeera.com

Yemen Fishermen Ensnared in Diplomatic Spat

Mohammed Sayers

Disagreements over Red Sea islands and fishing rights once thought to have been settled with Eritrea flare anew

Nadeem Al-Rabas, 26, embarked on March 17 with a group of fellow Yemeni fishermen to work the country’s territorial waters, only to be arrested by the Eritrean coast guard. It was his second arrest at the hands of Eritrean authorities.

Rabas, who tells The Media Line he knows nothing other than fishing, says his mother suffered a heart attack when he was first arrested, in August 2017, by Eritrean military forces for what they said was a violation of Eritrean fishing laws.

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Source: themedialine.org

Is it the End of the Road for India in the Enrica Lexie Incident?

Although the legal phase of the matter is over, the Indian government should continue to exercise diplomatic pressure on Italy.

Jay Manoj Sanklecha

The award of the ad-hoc arbitral tribunal constituted under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS), only the operative portions of which were publicly released last week, appears to have brought to an end, an eight year long tussle between New Delhi and Rome on the exercise of criminal jurisdiction over two Italian marines accused of manslaughter.

As many would remember, on February 15, 2012, two Italian marines Sgt. Massimiliano Latorre and Sgt. Salvatore Girone, deployed on board an oil tanker MV Enrica Lexie flying the Italian flag en route from Sri Lanka to Egypt, at roughly 20.5 nautical miles off the Indian coast, opened fire, killing two Indian fisherman on board an Indian vessel St. Antony after claiming to have mistaken them for pirates.

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Source: thewire.in

Italian Marines ‘entitled To Immunity’ In India Shooting: Tribunal

Sumaira FH

The Hague, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 2nd Jul, 2020 ) :Two Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen in 2012 were entitled to immunity from prosecution, a tribunal ruled Thursday in a case that poisoned ties between the two countries.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague said it had decided by three votes to two “that the Marines are entitled to immunity in relation to the acts that they committed during the incident”.

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Source: urdupoint.com

Stable Seas report: What we know about piracy

SafeSeas is pleased to announce the first report resulting from collaboration with Stable Seas: What we know about Piracy

Authored by Lydelle Joubert, the report draws on desk-based research conducted between June 2019 and March 2020. It provides a systematic overview of data, answering the questions:

How is data on piracy and armed robbery collected?
By whom?
What kinds of information are available?
How accessible is the data?
What are the blind spots?

To download the report, please click here.

MarsecNews: This is a good overall read and covers the topic very well. Full marks to Lydelle and the team.

IMSC Comment on Incident in Gulf of Aden

BAHRAIN

05.19.2020

Story by NAVCENT Public Affairs

U.S. Naval Forces Central Command / U.S. 5th Fleet

The International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC) monitored an incident involving a United Kingdom flagged tanker which was approached in the international waters of the Gulf of Aden, May 17.

Initial reports indicated the Stolt Apal tanker was approached by two speed boats approximately 100 miles off the coast of Yemen. The incident occurred in IMSC’s area of operations.

“While we do not yet know who is responsible for this incident, it serves as an example of the behaviour IMSC is here to deter,” said Commodore Rob Bellfield, IMSC commander.

No immediate threat to the free flow of shipping was assessed, and no further action was taken by IMSC vessels or aircraft.

The multi-national, British-led IMSC deploys ships and aircraft throughout the region as part of the international surveillance and detection effort, ensuring freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce in international waters.

Source: dvidshub.net

Somali pirates attack UK-flagged tanker in Gulf of Aden

UKMTO and media outlets report that on May 17th, the UK-flagged Stolt Apal was attacked by suspected Somali pirates in two skiffs, in the IRTC, Gulf of Aden.

The initial UKMTO report stated that at approximately 1230UTC a MV was attacked in position 1343N 05037.4E. Follow up media reports added that Stolt-Nielsen had confirmed the incident, reporting that two skiffs with six persons on board had approached the ship at high speed.

The tanker’s armed security team fired warning shots, which the pirates ignored and fired on the vessel. The ship’s security team returned fire, apparently disabling one of the skiffs which ended the attack.

The Stolt Apal’s bridge sustained minor gunshot damage but the vessel was otherwise unharmed and no injuries were reported.

The attack comes after a long period of calm in the Indian Ocean as far as piracy is concerned. However, analysts have long warned that the economic and social conditions for piracy remain in Somalia, and these could potentially be exarcerbated by the impact of the coronavirus both ashore and at sea in terms of maritime security provision.

It is imperative that the shipping industry avoids becoming complacent and continues to follow BMP 5 measures while transiting the region.