Saturday, September 20, 2008
The P-3 Orion plane was accompanied by a Boeing 727 and a Hercules helicopter, carrying 90 personnel including crew, the ministry said in a news release.
The patrol operation will run for an initial three months, which could be extended depending on decisions taken on the international stage.
The move comes after French commandos on Tuesday freed two French tourists held for ransom on their yacht off the African country's coast. In April, crew members of a Spanish fishing boat were freed by pirates in the area after payment of a $1.2 million ransom, according to a Somali official.
The Orion will collect information on the movements of pirates to relay to a European Union task force formed on Monday to work against piracy off the Horn of Africa.
Gunmen from Somalia have hijacked more than 30 ships so far this year, making the strategic shipping lanes in the busy Gulf of Aden the most dangerous in the world.
(Reporting by Judy MacInnes; editing by Robert Hart)
Source: Reuters, Sept 20, 2008