A number of ships off Somalia have thwarted attacks by pirates this week, the United States-led Combined Maritime Force, which is charged with securing the dangerous Gulf of Aden passage, said on Wednesday.
Five attacks on Tuesday were unsuccessful ”as a result of proactive measures taken by masters and crews” of the merchant vessels, said a statement from the force’s headquarters at the US Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain.
The ships conducted evasive manoeuvring and used fire hoses to repel the pirates, the statement added, noting that attackers fired shots during two of the assaults.
”The proactive measures taken yesterday [Tuesday] by merchant vessels are exactly what we have been recommending,” said force commander Vice Admiral Bill Gortney.
The statement did not say if five ships had been targeted, or whether there was more than one assault on a single vessel. It also did not identify any of the targeted ships.
Pirates are rife and well organised in the area where Somalia’s north-eastern tip juts into the Indian Ocean, preying on a key maritime route leading to the Suez Canal through which an estimated 30% of the world’s oil transits.
The International Maritime Bureau said 63 of 199 piracy incidents recorded worldwide in the first nine months of this year were in waters off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.
The pirates operate high-powered speedboats and are heavily armed, sometimes holding ships for weeks until they are released for large ransoms paid by governments or owners.
In addition to coalition naval forces, Nato warships and ships and aircraft from several other nations have been deployed in the region to protect commercial shipping.
The statement said that for about two months, the coalition has been working with the shipping industry and the International Maritime Organisation to recommend effective self-protection measures.
Separately, a Spanish warplane used smoke bombs to deter pirates from boarding a Panama-flagged oil tanker on Tuesday. — AFP
