(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) A spate of suspicious approaches on merchant ships by possible Somali pirates were reported in the Sea of Oman in February-end, with other approaches and attacks occurring in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden during the same period.
According to piracy monitoring organisation OCEANUSLive, four approaches by suspected pirates were reported between February 24 and 25, on each occasion forcing armed security teams on board to fire warning flares.
A fifth incident on February 28 was investigated by Oman's Coast Guard and deemed to be a false alarm. The first of the four suspicious approaches, reported to the UK Maritime and Trade Office, stated that a skiff with four persons on board approached a vessel in the Sea of Oman on February 24.
Flares were fired and weapons displayed before the skiff departed. The second incident on the same day reported a Liberia-flagged crude oil tanker being followed by a skiff 75 nautical miles north-northwest of Muscat.
Security team fired flares resulting in the skiff aborting its approach. On February 25, two separate incidents in the Sea of Oman similarly reported small craft approaching vessels, in one case closing to within 200m and loitering for several minutes before flares were fired, resulting in the skiff breaking away.
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