(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) With the arrival of southwest monsoon, more small craft are operating in the Gulf of Aden, bringing additional complexity in identifying potential threats, according to Dryad Maritime, a leading maritime operations organisation. But it has also said that this time of the year makes it difficult for pirates to operate small boats.
''The southwest monsoon, however, will continue to limit the pirates' use of small boats in the Arabian Sea and the Sea of Oman over the next three months,'' said Mike Edey, head of operations, Dryad Maritime, in an e-mail reply to Muscat Daily.
''Though there have been no incidents in Omani waters in the second quarter of 2014, there were two suspicious approaches on April 5 and 13 within 200 nautical miles (nm) of the Omani coast,'' said Edey.
Explaining the approach on April 13, he said, ''At 0435 UTC/GMT (8.35am local time), approximately 110nm northeast of Socotra (Yemen), a merchant vessel reported sighting a contact on radar approximately 1.5nm eastern.''
Identified as a single skiff closing in on the merchant vessel, the embarked security team took positions and the crew mustered.
''As the skiff closed in on the vessel, two warning flares were fired. At 200m, ladders were sighted and a warning shot was fired resulting in the skiff changing its course and decreasing speed before resuming its approach,'' he said, adding, that another warning shot was fired at which the skiff stopped its approach.
The incident lasted approximately 40 minutes.
Edey said that the other incident occurred just outside Omani territorial waters, where a merchant vessel was reported to be approached within 300m by two skiffs and a dhow.
''Armed security team fired warning shots and skiffs turned away. We have been reported a number of unidentified small craft since the onset of southwest monsoon and will likely continue to get such reports,'' said Ian Millen, chief operating officer at Dryad maritime, adding, ''Gulf of Aden is a known route for smugglers and illegal migrants.''
He said that suspicious approaches have been reported in the area and it is possible that craft transiting between Somalia and Yemen may ‘probe', without attacking when encountering visible vessel defences in the form of armed guards.
''Though Dryad recorded only eight incidents in Q2, however, many of the conditions in Somalia that led to the rise in piracy remain in place. Any lowering of guard due to complacency could see a return to higher levels of piracy,'' added Millen.
However, the good news is the release of the remaining crew of MV Albedo who were being held hostage by Somali pirates.
'After almost four years in captivity, the remaining crew members were finally released in early June. These seafarers had suffered extreme distress since they were captured by Somali pirates in November 2010.
‘Seven of their colleagues were released in 2012 while some are reported to be missing since the vessel sank on July 8 last year which led the pirates to move them ashore for the remainder of their captivity,' stated a Dryad Maritime report.
''At least 40 seafarers still remain in captivity in Somalia,
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.