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.

FGS SPESSART refuelling at Sea

Two German ships from NATO have joined Op Atalanta in the Gulf of Aden this week; the frigate FGS EMDEN and the tanker FGS SPESSART. The vessels have been detached from NATO’s Standing Naval Maritime Group One (SNMG1) which is on deployment to the Far East and are expected to remain under EU NAVFOR’s command until the end of April.

This weekend another German warship, the FGS RHEINLAND-PFALZ will escort EU NAVFOR’s 19^th World Food Program shipment into Mogadishu. This will bring the total tonnage delivered to Somalia to over 120,000 – enough to feed over 2 million displaced people every day since Op Atalanta was established last December.

Last weekend the EU NAVFOR French ship FS FLOREAL was involved in recovering a large skiff that was stranded in the Gulf of Aden carrying approximately 100 refugees. The warship assisted those onboard with humanitarian aid and towed the vessel to the Port of Aden to be handed over to the Yemeni coastguard and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

In a separate operation the French Warship FS GEORGES LEYGUES, which is temporarily attached to EU NAVFOR, rescued the crew from the 4,000 tonne MV Sibley 1 which caught fire and sank 350 miles off the coast of Tanzania on Saturday. The 31 man crew were then transferred to the FS JEANNE D’ ARC, which is also attached to EU NAVFOR and currently en route to Djibouti.