Italian ship ETNA refuelling Korean warship YI SUNSHIN at Sea

On the occasion of the Refuelling At Sea (RAS) between the EUNAVFOR Flagship ITS ETNA and the Korean warship ROKS CHUNGMUGONG YI SUNSHIN, in the Gulf of Aden, Rear Admiral Giovanni Gumiero took advantage of the proximity of the two ships to visit Captain Myung Sung Kim, Commander of CheonHae Escort Force and Commanding Officer of the Korean Warship.

Republic of KOREA is contributing to the fight against piracy with a Destroyer patrolling in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) in the Gulf of Aden serving under the Command of CTF 151 (US-led anti piracy coalition Task Force) and, occasionally, escorting Korean Flag Merchant Vessels.

The visit paid by CTF 465, RAdm Gumiero,  enhanced the already good relationships with the Korean Forces in the Region and further areas of cooperation were explored.

RAdm Gumiero stated that “this first refuelling of a South Korean ship by EU NAVFOR went extremely well and helps to enhance our excellent relationships with coalition forces in the area”

EU NAVFOR SOMALIA Operation ATALANTA main tasks are to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the ‘World Food Program’ (WFP), to protect vulnerable ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean and to deter and disrupt piracy.

Picture Gallery:

Commodore Steve Chick, Commander of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG 2), Commodore Pieter Bindt, Force Commander of the European Naval Force Somalia (EU NAVFOR), Rear Admiral Scott Sanders, Commander of the Combined Task Force 151 (CTF 151)

The Commanding Officers of the three largest Counter Piracy Task Forces in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean met on board the EU NAVFOR flagship HNLMS Evertsen on October 26 in the International Recognized Transit Corridor in the Gulf of Aden, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

The three commanding officers, Commodore Pieter Bindt, Force Commander of the European Naval Force Somalia (EU NAVFOR), Rear Admiral Scott Sanders, Commander of the Combined Task Force 151 (CTF 151) and Commodore Steve Chick, Commander of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG 2) met to evaluate their recent initiatives to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their combined counter piracy forces and discuss ways ahead for continuous improvement. Despite three different, but overlapping, mandates they have a common goal to deter, disrupt and repress piracy.

Presently there are approximately 27 ships from 16 different nations conducting counter-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. They are part of EU NAVFOR, NATO, CTF 151, or nationally deployed, like Japan, China, India and Saudi Arabia. Piracy and its threat to commerce, regional stability, and freedom of navigation is something that governments, worldwide, are concerned about.

Four ships have been hijacked in the past two months. This is traumatic for the crews and others involved. However, the efforts of merchant ships increasingly committing to the best management practices, the activities of the counter piracy forces and the efforts of the regional authorities, managed to keep the vast majority of ships transiting through this huge area safe.

As of the end of October the chance for a pirate of actually hijacking, a ship, if attacked, is 1 in 9. This is a significant decrease compared to the 1 in 3 in the meteorologically similar period from 15 February until 15 April this year. In the Gulf of Aden the pirate success rate has dropped to 0%.

Presenting its quarterly report on piracy, the International Maritime Bureau recently declared the activities of the combined naval forces were instrumental in the decrease of Piracy and were “very, very effective”.

All three Commanders agree that the solution is in stability and a rule of law on land and regional capacity building to deter, disrupt and repress piracy.

RHEINLAND-PFALZ arresting the suspected pirates

RHEINLAND-PFALZ arresting the suspected pirates

Early this morning the German warship RHEINLAND-PFALZ and the American destroyer MONTEREY successfully fended off a pirate attack on the German owned MV COURIER as it transited through the Gulf of Aden.

On receiving the alarm call both warships launched helicopters to assist the besieged vessel that was transiting through the safety corridor en route to the United Arab Emirates with its cargo of steel.

The pirates abandoned their attack soon after the aircraft arrived “on scene” and the RHEINLAND PFALZ’s Sea Lynx pursued one of the two escaping skiffs for over 10 miles, firing warning shots to stop the vessel before the warship closed in to board and search it. It is understood that the remaining skiff was chased and stopped by the MONTEREY and its helicopter and a number of suspects apprehended.

A total of nine suspects were arrested and a large amount of fuel, weapons and ladders were discovered and confiscated. The MV COURIER was undamaged and no casualties were reported among the 18 man crew.