ESPS Navarra escorting WFP dhow

From 26th of February to 1st of March, EU NAVFOR Warship ESPS NAVARRA successfully completed the escort on WFP Chartered vessel FAIZE SULTANE KWHAJA from Salalah Port (Oman) to Boosaaso, in the northern Somali coast.

The dhow-type vessel chartered by the World Food Program Office in NAIROBI (Kenya) carried 35 tons of humanitarian aid in support of UN famine relief of Somali displaced persons. This is the first time the Indian flagged dhow is escorted by a EU NAVFOR Warship. FAIZE SULTANE KWHAJA is a 558 gross tonnage dhow, a type of cargo vessel which is very common to come across in these waters. The 35 tons of humanitarian aid that safely got to destination was mainly promalein oil enriched in vitamins A and D, a Canadian contribution to the UN World Food Program project in Somalia.

Both ships sailed together across the Gulf of Aden, transiting some areas where the merchant vessel community experienced many attacks from Somali pirates. ESPS NAVARRA maintained a sharp look out at close distance that allowed her to manoeuvre rapidly to protect the vessel, the cargo and the crew. After three days of escort, the WFP vessel reached his destination and entered safely the port of Boosaaso.

EU NAVFOR Somalia – Operation ATALANTA’s main tasks are to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the ‘World Food Program’ (WFP) and vessels of AMISOM, and to protect vulnerable ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean and to deter and disrupt piracy. EU NAVFOR also monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia.

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After establishing contact with local authorities in Somalia in the early morning of 15 Sep, the details for the handover of the deceased suspect were organized and EU NAVFOR warship BRANDENBURG headed for the Somali coastline.

Somali coast guard officials met the warship off Boosaaso at noon using a small police boat. The body was handed over officially at 12:41 pm local time and was taken back to Somalia.

EU NAVFOR German warship returned to the International Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) to protect shipping transiting the Gulf of Aden against piracy attacks.

The German owned and managed bulk carrier, MV VICTORIA, has been released on the morning of 18 July. The Barbados and Antigua flagged ship was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden approximately 120 nautical miles north of Boosaaso in Somalia 5 May.

European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) ships BRANDENBURG and NIKIFOROS FOKAS assisted the ship heading north. The master of MV VICTORIA has reported to the EU NAVFOR ship BRANDENBURG, that all crew members are well and no further medical assistance is required.

EU NAVFOR is now monitoring the vicinity with a Maritime Patrol Aircraft.

At 3.30 this morning the pirates who were holding the Indian dhow, the NAFEYA, abandoned the ship, approximately 15nm west of Bossaso, and sped off to the Somali coast.

The EU NAVFOR ship ACONIT, who had been shadowing the NAFEYA at a safe distance so as not to endanger the crew, sent a helicopter at first light and confirmed that the pirates had left.

Soon afterwards, the ACONIT joined the NAFEYA and sent a boarding team over to the dhow to make sure all personnel onboard were safe and well. An Indian frigate, the GODAVARI is also on the scene to support the dhow and the Indian crew.

It has been confirmed that all 14 crew are safe and well.

Helicopter of ACONIT supports AL TAREK - Crew of ACONIT on the AL TAREK (Source: ACONIT)

On 1 July the EU NAVFOR French frigate ACONIT patrolling in the Gulf of Aden received a distress call from the Indian ship AL TAREK.

The vessel AL TAREK, the size of a dhow, transporting 2300 goats between Bossasso, Somalia and Mukallah in Yemen, was short of fuel and could not safely proceed towards her destination with waves two metres high and a 50 km/h wind. The ACONIT helicopter supported the vessel with fuel and equipment.

Unfortunately, due to the poor state of the ship, the fuel was insufficient to meet the task and the ships pumps were unable to stem the flow of water. Before sunset, Captain Goutay ordered the evacuation of the crew comprised of 7 Indians, 5 Somalians, and 1 Yemenis, plus 4 French Navy personnel. The ship sank later that  evening. The 13 survivors were handed over to the Yemen authorities.

The frigate ACONIT, which joined the operation EU NAVFOR Operation ATALANTA 8th June, has returned to its previous mission within EU NAVFOR in the Gulf of Aden to fight against piracy.

FS COMMANDANT BOUAN

Early today four sailors from Somalia, who had been rescued during a distress at sea incident, were safely brought back to their home country by a French EU NAVFOR warship.

Ten days ago, on Thursday, 28 May 2009, eight Somali sailors were found in a small boat with a malfunctioning engine in the Gulf of Aden. Two were found dead, four others were injured and two remained unhurt. They were found by the French EU NAVFOR Atalanta ship, COMMANDANT BOUAN, investigating a distress call from a merchant vessel under pirate attack. The attack had been thwarted by an Indian warship escorting a convoy, however no further information could be gleaned. No evidence was discovered concerning the question whether the Somali sailors were involved in this attempted piracy incident. Subsequently, they were rescued by the French warship in accordance with the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) obligating masters of all vessels to provide help to those in distress.

The castaways explained to the BOUAN’s crew that they were citizens from Puntland in the North of Somalia. The two unhurt sailors and the two dead sailors were transferred to Boosaaso and handed over to the Puntland Coast Guard last Monday.

The remaining four injured people were transferred to the French Military Hospital in Djibouti for medical treatment after having been rescued and have now been transferred to Boosaaso and handed over to a Coast Guard vessel, as survivors.

The transfers were conducted by the French frigate COMMANDANT BOUAN as tasked by the EU NAVFOR Atalanta Force Headquarters.

The captured pirate skiff

Events in the Gulf of Aden took an unexpected turn this weekend when the German Naval Tanker FGS SPESSART, that is currently attached to EU NAVFOR from NATO, was attacked 85 miles north of Bosasso yesterday afternoon.

The attacking skiff fled after the warship returned small arms fire and then gave chase with helicopter support from the nearby Dutch NATO warship HNLMS DE ZEVEN PROVINCIEN, the EU NAVFOR Spanish frigate SPS VICTORIA, and the CTF 151 American flagship USS BOXER.

Once the skiff was stopped, the Greek Op Atalanta Flagship PSARA was soon at the scene and detained the vessel until the 7 suspected pirates were taken into German custody onboard the frigate FGS RHEINLAND-PFALZ early this morning.

A decision regarding the venue of their trial will be taken later today.

HMS NORTHUMBERLAND

The Op Atalanta warship NORTHUMBERLAND (UK) is this week escorting four different World Food Program (WFP) ships into three different Somali ports. Thus far two ships have arrived safely in Mogadishu and Bosaso with a further two expected in Berbera over this weekend.

Escorting WFP ships is a principle task for Op Atalanta and so far almost 40,000 tonnes of aid have been delivered into Somalia – enough to feed over 1.2 million people.

Soon to join Op Atalanta is the Spanish frigate SPS VICTORIA, arriving in the Gulf of Aden early next week. She is a Spanish warship of the USN OLIVER HAZARD PERRY (FFG-7) design and carries two Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters onboard.

The German frigate KARLSRUHE is being relieved by its sister ship RHEINLAND-PFALZ this weekend and a handover ceremony will take place in Djibouti to mark the occasion.

Commander (GE) Hans-Joachim Kuhfahl, commanding officer of the KARLSRUHE had this to say as their deployment draws to a close.

“It has been a great privilege to be part of Operation Atalanta. All the ship’s company have found the deployment very rewarding as they have clearly seen the value of what they are doing. Protecting the merchant fleet has had a real benefit to global trade and we have had a very positive response from all the merchant vessels we have worked with over the past few months”,

Finally, 7 vessels now remain held under pirate control along with approximately 120 crew members.