(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) This year saw a sharp dip in piracy incidents off Oman with only one pirate attack recorded, when a cargo ship was fired upon on February 22, according to a reputed maritime information sharing platform. Around 34 attacks were recorded in 2012, said Glen Forbes, a former Royal Navy officer and founder of OCEANUSLive, referring to an area 200 nautical miles from Oman.
There were no hijacks this year either, Forbes added. ''In 2012, there were ten hijacks within 300 nautical miles or so from Oman and approximately 34 pirate attacks besides around 33 suspicious incidents,'' he said. However, there were 'six approaches which involved two to four skiffs' this year, he added.
EU NAVFOR, the anti-piracy force set up by the European Union, said increased counter-piracy measures has been one of the main reasons for the drop.
Lt Cdr Jacqueline Sherriff, MBE Royal Navy and spokesperson for EU NAVFOR Somalia, said, ''Piracy has reduced for a number of reasons, mainly efforts of military counter-piracy forces like EU Naval Force, Combined Maritime Forces and NATO besides independent navies such as China, India, South Korea, Russia and Japan to deter and disrupt pirate groups.''
Lt Cdr Jacqueline added that the presence of private security on ships, too, has kept pirate attacks down. ''Members of the local maritime community, such as traders in dhows and fishermen in skiffs, carry assault weapons to protect themselves from attacks. Efforts of Somalis themselves have made it more difficult for pirate groups to plan their attacks and execute them at sea on merchant ships,'' she said.
While piracy has reduced significantly over the past 18 months, she said that pirates are still intent on getting out to sea, and military forces have disrupted their efforts. ''Pirates will still, if given the opportunity, try to pirate a ship and take it to the Somali coast with the aim of acquiring a ransom from the ship's owner.''
The EU Naval Force remains vigilant to these attacks and has warships on patrol 24/7 including during the festive season, she said.
According to her, till September 2013, approximately US$20mn had been paid in ransom to Somali pirates.
OCEANUSLive's Forbes, meanwhile, said that this year also saw the release of ten crew members of vessels hijacked earlier.
Of the 19 crew members (17 Syrians and two Sri Lankans) taken hostage with the hijacked MV Orna, 13 had been released on October 20, 2012 while the remaining six were released in three groups this year. ''The first group including the captain and the chief engineer was released in January this year.''
Four crew of the MV Leopard taken hostage on January 12, 2011 were released on April 30. ''The pirates could not start the main engines but kidnapped the crew of four Filipinos and two Danes,'' he said.
Yemeni dhow Ghazal Howlf, hijacked from the Gulf of Aden in March 2012 enroute to Socotra Island from Mukalla and its six crew members were released on April 28 this year, Forbe
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.