The fleet includes two Karel Doorman-class frigates (from Belgium and Netherlands), a Spanish Santa Maria-class frigate, an Italian Horizon-class destroyer, a German Berlin-class combat support ship and a P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft. The Maritime Security Centre – Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) established the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) in the region and EUNAVFOR – Operation Atalanta’s current fleet is protecting merchant vessels in the area. Somali pirates are usually well armed with automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades, occasionally boarding skiffs launched from mother vessels to conduct attacks far away from the coast. “Although the number of attacks continues to remain low, the threat of Somali piracy is still clearly evident,” said IMB Director Pottengal Mukundan. Organisations such as the IMB have also warned against complacency. In October, UN official Jeffrey Feltman called piracy a “political problem” and warned that piracy could return. Piracy in the area peaked in 2011 with 237 attacks recorded, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), but in 2013 there were only 15 incidents.Īlthough attacks from Somali pirates have fallen drastically, thanks to Operation Atalanta, also known as the European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia, the risk of being approached or attacked is still high.
Somali waters witnessed 435 piracy incidents between 20 and three incidents were reported in the first half of 2014.
0 kommentar(er)
