Sunday, August 23, 2009
"The maritime environment is much more peaceful because of the international cooperation," Admiral Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations for the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet, told a press conference.
"The situation is better than it was about a year ago.
"The situation in the Gulf of Aden may witness a surge in piracy ... I think it will pick up when the weather improves.
"I think we might witness a change in their tactics to attacks that achieve their goals," he said without elaborating, adding that he had "great confidence" in the multinational counter-piracy operation in the key shipping lane.
Early April this year saw an unprecedented flurry of hijackings, but less favourable weather recently has led to a relative lull in pirate attacks.
More than 30,000 vessels a year transit the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden, heading to and from the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
So far this year there have been 114 attempted attacks on merchant vessels in the region, 29 of them successful, according to the US navy.
Source: AFP, August 23, 2009