By KATHARINE HOURELD
Thursday, July 23, 2009
The monsoon period ends in four to six weeks and pirate attacks are expected to increase sharply. Earlier this year, pirates expanded their range hundreds of miles south of Somalia, partly in reaction to the increased naval presence in the Gulf of Aden.
"What we really need are eyes in the south," Rear Admiral Peter Hudson told The Associated Press. "The Kenyan armed forces have been hugely supportive to us, in giving access to their airfields, in giving support to navy ships that visit."
He plans to rotate some of the surveillance aircraft — currently in Djibouti at the western end of the Gulf of Aden — into Kenya's Mombasa port, following a series of high-level meetings over piracy with Kenyan officials. The move will increase the aircraft's range by hundreds of miles.
France, Germany and Spain have aircraft based in Djibouti, as do Japan and the United States. The U.S. also used unmanned drones to monitor maritime traffic and potential pirate activity. The aircraft support around 30 warships in the Gulf of Aden that escort food shipments to Somalia and patrol a designated corridor for commercial shipping.
Kenyan military spokesman Bogita Ongeri said he could not give details of the discussions, but that Kenya was eager to help stop piracy.
"Many of our East African neighbors depend on Mombasa port for their goods," he said. "We will work with anyone to secure our trade and stop the pirates."
War-ravaged Somalia is a deeply impoverished nation and enough pirates have received multimillion dollar ransoms to encourage hundreds of other poor, heavily armed gunmen to try their luck. But although attacks have increased, their success rate has declined, partly due to naval intervention in the gulf and partly due to better awareness and preparation on the part of merchant seamen.
Hundreds of attacks have been carried out this year already — including one on a Yemeni oil tanker pursued by 14 boats on Tuesday — and around a dozen ships are still held in Somalia. Hudson said it appeared negotiations were taking longer than previously as insurance companies hardened their stance, and there was a risk the pirates might take out their frustration on their captives.
When the Dutch Antilles-flagged Marathon was released recently, the ship had been internally gutted. One Ukrainian crew member was killed in the attack and another was injured, although the circumstances of the injury were unclear.
Source: Reuters, July 23, 2009