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Bulker Attacked by Pirates off Somalia

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HMS Montrose, who is part of NATO’s counter piracy mission, Operation Ocean Shield off the Horn of Africa, prevented a gang of suspected pirates from prowling in to the Indian Ocean to attack merchant ships. A pirate gang consisting of ten men was seen acting suspiciously near to a known pirate camp off the coast of Somalia. Their boat, loaded with ladders and fuel drums was towing two other smaller vessels that have been traditionally used for pirate attacks against ships HMS Montrose launched her Lynx helicopter and a boat of Royal Marines and Sailors to investigate. Once the suspected pirates spotted the helicopter and boarding team, four of the suspected pirates took one of the smaller boats and tried to head for the shore. The six remaining men stopped in the water and when the Lynx helicopter hovered overhead they attempted to discard the pirate ladders overboard. After the navy boarding team confiscated all the pirate gear, thus ensuring that the gang could no longer pose a threat to merchantmen, they were transferred to the remaining skiff. Speaking about the incident, Commander Jonathen Lett said “Today’s disruption of a pirate gang in the Somali Basin by a NATO warship was very rewarding. Our actions prevented suspected pirates from heading out to sea to prey on innocent merchantmen. HMS Montrose continues to help keep the seas safe”. The NATO Task Force patrols the Gulf of Aden and Somali Basin as part of the international effort to counter the scourge of piracy. Despite the vastness of the ocean, counter piracy forces, such as NATO, the Combined Maritime Forces, the EU Naval Force and other independent maritime forces continue to successfully disrupt pirate activity and help safeguard merchant traffic.

On Wednesday, the bulker KSL Sydney was attacked by armed men in a skiff far off the east coast of Somalia, the latest sign that piracy remains a threat in the western Indian Ocean.

According to the IMB ICC and EUNAVFOR Operation Atalanta, a skiff with four armed pirates approached the Sydney at a position about 340 nm off Mogadishu. The captain mustered the crew in the vessel’s citadel and set off the SSAS alarm. Meanwhile, the Sydney’s embarked security team engaged the attackers in a “sustained exchange of fire,” according to EUNAVFOR. The skiff eventually broke off and abandoned the pursuit.

“Due to the application of BMP protection measures by the master, his crew and the private security team, the piracy attack was thwarted and the crew and vessel remained safe,” said EUNAVFOR in a statement.

EUNAVFOR issued an alert to merchant shipping and launched a response, including the deployment of several counter-piracy assets.

Somali piracy has fallen far from its peak in 2011-2012, when pirate “mother ship” boats and go-fast skiffs ranged as far abroad as the coastal waters of India. A combination of armed shipboard security contractors and multinational naval patrols ultimately suppressed the problem, resulting in several years without a reported successful attack. Somali piracy re-emerged last year with a series of attacks on small dhows and foreign bulkers, including the hijacking of the OS 35, which was ultimately thwarted by Chinese naval forces.

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