Apprehend News

The Indian navy handed over 35 Somali pirates to the police in Mumbai on Saturday, after 100 days of anti-piracy operations east of the Red Sea, where piracy has resurfaced for the first time in nearly a decade.India, the largest national force in the Gulf of Aden and northern Arabian Sea region, captured the pirates from the cargo ship Ruen last week, three months after it was hijacked off the Somali coast.Taking advantage of Western forces' focus on protecting shipping from attacks in the Red Sea by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi militants…

Incidents of piracy and attacks on merchant vessels in waters of the Gulf of Guinea are endemic. There are multiple factors at play, including but not limited to: poverty, limited government presence in coastal communities, minimal maritime law enforcement capability among coastal states, and corruption. Some foreign nations, primarily European, conduct patrols outside the 12 nautical mile territorial seas, but far too few to make a significant dent in the problem, and with no authority to operate closer to shore…

U.S. authorities in San Juan, Puerto Rico seized $27 million of undeclared currency found inside boxes aboard a cargo ship bound for St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized the vacuum-sealed cash packs on board the vessel Norma H II during a joint investigation between CBP, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico on Saturday, officials said.CBP said one of its K-9 units discovered the cash in unmanifested palleted home moving boxes while inspecting outbound cargo on board the Togo-flagged vessel at Pier 10 in San Juan. A total of 34 cargo boxes containing $27 million was seized under failure to declare and bulk cash smuggling laws.

South Korea’s coast guard said it fired 249 warning shots over a group of Chinese fishing boats “swarming around” one of its patrol ships in South Korean waters, prompting a call for restraint from Beijing. South Korean coast guard vessels regularly chase Chinese boats suspected of fishing illegally in South Korean waters, at times sparking violent confrontations, complicating a relationship which is key to efforts to try to rein in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

Four suspected migrant smugglers were killed in an exchange of fire with the Libyan coastguard off western Libya on Thursday, spokesman Ayoub Qassem said. Qassem said the clash started when the coastguards tried to apprehend heavily armed gunmen whose boat was located near a migrant vessel close to the city of Zawiya, about 45 km (28 miles) west of Tripoli. "The coastguard boat detected the gunmen's boat by radar during a patrol," Qassem told Reuters. "The gunmen were asked to stop but they refused to follow the rules, which means most likely they were smugglers of illegal migrants. They opened fire at the patrol. Two of the suspected smugglers were arrested and one was missing, Qassem said.

China on Wednesday said it was "very dissatisfied" with South Korea after the latter's coast guard fired warning shots at Chinese fishermen in South Korean waters. South Korea's coast guard vessels regularly chase Chinese boats for fishing illegally off the country's coast, at times sparking violent confrontations. On Tuesday, the South Korean Coast Guard said it stopped two Chinese vessels that were fishing illegally, prompting about 30 other Chinese boats in the same group to swarm around and collide with the coast guard vessel. "The safety of our own Coast Guard members was at risk," said Lee Dae-haeng, a spokesman at the Coast Guard's central regional headquarters. No Chinese fishermen were harmed, however, said South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

China said on Wednesday South Korea's coast guard should not have been operating in part of the sea where one of Seoul's patrol boats sank last week during an operation to crack down on a group of Chinese fishing boats. South Korean coast guard vessels regularly chase Chinese boats for fishing illegally off its coast, at times resulting in violent confrontations. The disputes are an irritant in relations between China and U.S. ally South Korea, even as their economic relations grow close and they share concerns about North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programmes. South Korea's Ministry of Public Safety and Security, which oversees the coast guard, said one of its patrol boats sank last week during an anti-illegal fishing operation off the Korean peninsula's west coast.

China lodges protest with Seoul over the incident. Three Chinese fishermen were killed on Thursday in a fire that broke out on their boat when South Korean coastguard men trying to apprehend them for illegal fishing threw flash grenades into a room they were hiding in, a South Korean official said. Disputes over illegal fishing are an irritant in relations between China and U.S. ally South Korea, even as their economic relations grow close. They also share concern about North Korea's nuclear weapon and missile programmes. The three men were believed to have suffocated, a coastguard official in the South Korean port city of Mokpo said, adding that the incident was being investigated.

USCGC Sequoia (WLB-215), homeported in Apra Harbor, Guam, is scheduled to arrive in Saipan today, for a port visit before continuing aids to navigation operations in Western Oceania. The Sequoia will be open to the public for tours Sunday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., at the Port of Saipan in Tanapag Harbor. All children must be accompanied by an adult. Pets are not allowed aboard the cutter. Coast Guard crewmembers will be standing by to answer questions about Sequoia. The Sequoia conducted fisheries enforcement patrols, supporting forum fisheries agency operations and conducting aids to navigation within Western Oceania in support of Operation Tui Moana and Island Chief 2016.

Illegal fishing was the focus of a joint operation between Australia and Indonesia that concluded in Bali on April 5. The fifth coordinated maritime security patrol, AUSINDO CORPAT 2016, had elements of the Australian Defense Force unite with the Indonesian Armed Forces in the waters between Australia and Indonesia over the past 10 days to target the exploitation of natural resources, specifically illegal fishing. Commencing in Darwin, the operation included aircraft, ships and headquarters staff from both nations in two synchronized task groups.

From January 2015 till May 2015, a total of 80 incidents had been reported, comprising 75 actual incidents and five attempted incidents, says Information Sharing Centre (ReCAAP ISC). This accounts for an increase of 19% in the number of incidents compared to the same period in 2014. Notably, January-May 2015 recorded the highest number of actual incidents among the five-year reporting period, indicating that more incidents had occurred in 2015; and these were mostly incidents reported in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS). Of the 80 incidents reported during January-May 2015, five were attempted incidents, seven were Category 1 incidents, 11 were Category 2 incidents, eight were Category 3 incidents and 49 were Petty Thefts.

Austal has launched the sixth in-series Cape Class Patrol Boat (CCPB) at the company’s Australian Defense Facility in Henderson, Western Australia. The launch of Cape Leveque marks the third year in a row a CCPB has been launched in the first week of January; preceded by Cape St George (CCPB01) in 2013 and Cape Byron (CCPB02) in 2014. Cape Leveque is the sixth of eight 58-meter patrol boats that are being delivered to the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) by Austal as Prime Contractor under a design…

Austal Limited has delivered Cape Sorell, the fourth of eight Cape Class Patrol Boats being supplied to the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service under a $330 million design, build and in-service support contract. Austal Chief Executive Officer Andrew Bellamy said it represented a significant milestone with half the Cape Class fleet now delivered, and continuing to be delivered in accordance with contracted timeframes. “With the delivery of Cape Sorell Austal achieves…

A Chinese fisherman was killed on Friday in a South Korean coastguard operation to apprehend his vessel which was operating illegally off South Korea's west coast, the South Korean coastguard said, drawing an angry response from China. Coastguard officers fired eight bullets when they raided the boat in the Yellow Sea. While the coastguard said no bullet wound or bleeding was found on the crew member, a hospital official said he appeared to have been killed by a bullet to his right lung. The coastguard said an autopsy would determine the cause of death. The killing will irritate relations between the two countries but is unlikely to derail efforts to forge a stronger economic partnership. China is South Korea's biggest trading partner.

An aircrew from the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron operating from the cutter Active fired warning shots, followed by engine disabling fire to render a drug-running panga inoperable as it attempted to avoid capture. U.S. Coast Guard crews intercepted the panga boat with approximately 7,100 pounds of marijuana and three suspected smugglers aboard in international waters some 155 miles southwest of San Diego. In the most recent incident an aircrew aboard a Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft initially detected the 30-foot panga and multiple assets…

Demonstrating the rapid progress of the Cape Class Patrol Boat Program, Austal today hosted the keel-laying ceremony for the third vessel, Cape Nelson, one of eight 56-meter patrol boats that Austal is designing, building and supporting for the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. Keel-laying traditionally marks the first significant milestone in a ship’s construction. Historically this was the “laying down” of the main timber making up the backbone of a vessel. Austal’s advanced shipbuilding techniques means fabrication of ship modules begins well before they are actually joined.

The Coast Guard has completed the second of three planned shipboard demonstrations of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) capabilities aboard Coast Guard Cutter 'Bertholf' . The Coast Guard is using knowledge gained from these demonstrations to inform a future cutter-based UAS acquisition project. During the two-week deployment, the UAS demonstration team operated a ScanEagle UAS for more than 90 hours of flight time and aided in the interdiction of nearly 600 kilograms of cocaine – the first Coast Guard interdiction conducted with the support of an embarked UAS asset.

EU Naval Force French Frigate 'Surcouf' and NATO Warship 'USS Halyburton' work together to apprehend twelve pirate suspects. A merchant vessel sailing 260 miles off the Somali Coast, made a distress call, reporting that she was coming under attack by six men in a fast moving boat, armed with rocket propelled grenades (RPG). Thankfully, having employed avoidance tactics, the merchant vessel was able to escape the attack. Upon hearing the distress call, NATO warship USS Halyburton…

EU Naval Force Warship BNS Louise Marie Once Again Apprehends Suspect Pirates at Sea. Just 12 days after EU Naval Force warship BNS Louise Marie apprehended five suspect pirates at sea off the Somali Coast, the Belgium frigate has once again located a suspect skiff - this time with three men on board. The warship, which is operating as part of the European Union’s counter-piracy mission - Operation Atalanta, has maintained a constant sea watch during the past weeks in the waters off the Horn of Africa to help protect vessels from pirate attack.

EU Naval Force Belgian Frigate 'BNS Louise-Marie' apprehends five suspected pirates off Somali coast. Directed to the scene by ship's helicopter, BNS Louise-Marie issued verbal warnings to the skiff whose crew quickly raised their hands. The boarding party was deployed to apprehend the five suspected pirates on board the skiff, which was equipped with a ladder and a boarding hook, and it eventually  taken on board the frigate. The five suspected pirates are being held on board the ship for further investigation and taking of evidence in order to fully assess the possibility of prosecution.

Counter-piracy forces from the European Union will gain another valuable asset with the addition of a Falcon 50 maritime surveillance aircraft from the French Navy. Based from Djibouti, the aircraft has the range to cover the Gulf of Aden and waters off the horn of Africa. Its speed and range are instrumental in guiding surface units to apprehend suspect vessels and can provide advance warning to escorted convoys of aid to Somalia, allowing them to navigate around any threat without need for confrontation.

The man accused of being the negotiator for the ransom of four U.S. citizens held hostage on the high seas has been indicted for his alleged role in successfully extracting a ransom for a separate vessel and 22 hostages held by Somali pirates. Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Janice K. Fedarcyk, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office; and Alex J. Turner, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement. “Mr. Shibin is alleged to be among the select few who are entrusted with one of the most important tasks in Somali piracy – ensuring a ship’s owners pay the maximum amount of ransom possible for the release of a hijacked vessel,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride.

Commercial ships are the most cost effective and fastest means of transporting goods globally but pirate activity is a significant threat that costs the world economy between $7 and $12 billion annually according to a recent estimate by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), a coalition of 22 nations led by the United States, is now engaged in efforts to promote security and stability in response to the growing threat of piracy across approximately 2.5 million square miles of international waters in and around the Arabian Sea. However, executing effective strategies against piracy, terrorism…