We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
A Saudi Arabian-led coalition fighting Houthi forces in Yemen has declared a ceasefire, according to officials. Sources told the BBC the ceasefire will come into effect on Thursday in support of UN efforts to end the five-year-old war.
The coalition, backed by Western military powers, has been fighting against Houthi forces aligned to Iran since March 2015. It’s unclear if the Houthi forces will also observe the ceasefire.
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Source: bbc.co.uk
Evidence suggests that Iran has deployed an array of anti-ship missiles and large rockets overlooking Strait of Hormuz. The Strait is vital for the supply of oil from the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. The waterway is being patrolled by U.S. Navy and its allies to protect vessels from Iranian action.
Multiple amateur videos and photos of the weapons lined up on overlooking the beach began surfacing on social media on April 4. Geospatial analysis has confirmed that the location of one of the batteries is on Qeshm Island.
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Source: forbes.com
Sri Lanka’s Defence Ministry said the drugs had an estimated street value in Colombo of about 12,500 million rupees ($65 million), making it the country’s biggest single seizure of drugs.
COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan Navy intercepted a vessel carrying a large consignment of narcotics, which is estimated to be worth USD 65 million and arrested nine Pakistani nationals in an operation on Wednesday. According to a statement issued by the Sri Lankan Navy, the seized vessel was carrying USD 65 million worth of crystal methamphetamine and ketamine in the country’s biggest drugs bust.
Acting on a tip-off, authorities raided a flagless vessel in the country’s southern waters and arrested nine Pakistani men suspected of smuggling the drugs.
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Source: zeenews.india.com
Three members of Yemen’s Houthi rebel group were killed Wednesday in a naval operation by the pro-government Yemeni naval forces in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, a Yemeni military official said.
“A unit of the fifth naval zone carried out a successful operation deep in the Houthi-controlled areas in the northern parts of Hodeidah,” the official said on condition of anonymity. He said that the operation resulted in the killing of three Houthi members as well as seizing a boat along with its driver.
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Source: yemenonline.info
Jeremy Binnie, London – Jane’s Defence Weekly
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United Nations has identified the tanker that was attacked with a remotely controlled boat carrying explosives in the Gulf of Aden on 3 March as Gladiolus (IMO: 9169548), a Saudi-flagged vessel.
At the time, Colonel Turki al-Maliki, the spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group in Yemen, said a tanker that was heading towards Aden was attacked 90 n miles southeast of the Yemeni coastal town of Nishtun by four boats, at least one of which was unmanned and carrying explosives.
Col Maliki did not say how the attack was thwarted or identify the perpetrators but the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) released photographs showing what appeared to be an armed man on a large vessel observing approaching skiffs, one of which then swerved away to reveal that no one was on board.
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Source: janes.com
The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen: Interception and Destruction of (2) Remote-Controlled Exploding Boats Launched by the Terrorist Iran-backed Houthi militia from (Hodeida) Governorate
Riyadh, March 17, 2020, SPA — Statement by the Official Spokesman of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen COL Turki Al-Malki
“This morning, Tuesday 17 March 2020, Coalition Naval forces detected an attempt by the terrorist Iran-backed Houthi militia to conduct an imminent hostile, terrorist act in Southern Red Sea using (2) R/C exploding boats launched from Hodeida governorate.
The two boats, representing a threat to regional and international security as well as SLOCs and international trade in Southern Red Sea and Bab-el-Mandeb strait, were totaled and destroyed.
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Source: spa.gov.sa
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
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