Australian Navy Apprehends Suspected Pirates
Royal Australian Navy ship, HMAS Melbourne, has intercepted alleged pirates off the coast of Somalia as part of maritime security patrols in Middle Eastern waters for Operation SLIPPER. The suspected pirates were intercepted on October 15, 2013 after the Combined Maritime Forces received two reports of attempted acts of piracy against two separate merchant vessels during the previous four days. Under the direction of Combined Task Force 151 (CTF151), HMAS Melbourne was appointed as on-scene commander for a multi-national search operationā¦
Naval Force Mounts First Air-strike on Pirate Shore
Following the decision taken on 23 March 2012 by the Council of the European Union to allow the EU Naval Force to take disruption action against known pirate supplies on the shore, EU forces recently conducted an operation to destroy pirate equipment on the Somali coastline. The operation was conducted in accordance with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1851 and has the full support of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia. The focused, precise and proportionate action was conducted from the air and all forces returned safely to EU warships on completion.
INTERTANKO Applauds U.S. Legal Outcome on Piracy Case
INTERTANKO applauds the result of a plea bargaining agreement in the U.S. whereby a Somali national, who a few weeks ago escaped trial when a U.S. federal judge threw out a case accusing him and five colleagues of piracy, has pleaded guilty to piracy-related acts and will receive a significant prison sentence. Jama Idle Ibrahim, who took part 10 April in an attack on a U.S. Navy vessel, USS Ashland, in the Gulf of Aden after mistaking it for a merchant ship, has pleaded guilty to piracy-related acts including attacking to plunder a vessel, engaging in an act of violence against people on a vessel, and the use a firearm during a crime of violence.
EU NAVFOR Prevents Pirate Attack, Somali Basin
On October 13, 2009, a helicopter from the EU NAVFOR German warship Bremen, identified suspected pirate craft in the Somali Basin. The suspect craft were made up of a mother skiff and two smaller skiffs, near the islands of Seychelles. The EU NAVFOR helicopter fired warning shots and the skiffs stopped. The crew from the helicopter observed that the suspected pirates threw a number of items over board. A boarding party from the German warship found on the skiff grappling hooks, ammunition, GPS and 10 barrels of fuel. The skiffs had no fishing equipment onboard and after confiscating the suspected pirate equipment the mother skiff and crew were released.
Suspected pirates released by EU NAVFOR
Following the detention of the skiff and suspected pirates by the EU NAVFOR German warship Brandenburg on 7 Sep 2009, when the skiff refused to obey the command to stop, the four individuals involved in the incident have now been released, on order of the EU NAVFOR Force Commander, and left the warship en route to Somalia. All their pirate equipment (including weapons) has been confiscated and will be destroyed. The body of the suspected pirate who was wounded (and later died of his wounds) remains onboard the warship Brandenburg until arrangements to repatriate him are in place. Local authorities in Somalia and the International Committee for the Red Cross are being consulted.
