by DAVID AXE
For a year now the European Union has patrolled East African waters with a rotating force of warships. Operation Atalanta’s commencement, in December 2008, marked the extension of international counter-piracy efforts south towards Kenya. Previous piracy patrols, including the NATO effort and the U.S.-led Combined Task Force 151, have focused on the Gulf of Aden, farther north.
The E.U. was on to something. Piracy is down, way down, in the Gulf of Aden, as pirates find waters where warships are fewer. In September, NATO commodore Steve Chick warned that pirates might begin hitting targets southward. He was right — and the current hot-spot for hijackings is around the Seychelles, where the U.S. Navy and Air Force recently established a drone force to boost aerial patrols.
“There’s a sense that pirates are getting oceanographically smarter,” analyst Martin Murphy said last year. Indeed, pirates have the advantage of initiative: they know where warships are concentrated, and can attack elsewhere, as long as they have the motherships and intelligence to enable long-distance operations.
To restore initiative to the naval forces, the E.U. wants to attack pirates on their most vulnerable front: on land. For that, the E.U. wants to join NATO in training Somali security forces in policing coastal towns.
Recently, Radio Netherlands was aboard the Dutch frigate Eversten for a piracy patrol. Check out their Flickr stream.
(Photo: Radio Netherlands)
Related:
Skull & Bones: Beerless Days
Skull & Bones: Underway
Skull & Bones: Behind the Piracy Decline
Skull & Bones: Team Player
Skull & Bones: The 9,000-Ton Littoral Warship
Skull & Bones: The Near-Shore Strategy
Skull & Bones: My Kingdom for a Helicopter
Skull & Bones: Professional Suicide
Skull & Bones: Resupplying Donald Cook Video
Skull & Bones: Donald Cook Getting Underway Video
Skull & Bones: NATO Commodore Visits Donald Cook Video
Skull & Bones: Captain Derek Granger Video
Skull & Bones: Donald Cook Engineering Video
Skull & Bones: Iranian “Ship of Interest” Video
Skull & Bones: Donald Cook Boarding Team Video
World Politics Review: Counterpiracy Mission Targets Seafarers’ Hearts and Minds
Related posts:
- Skull & Bones: Donald Cook Boarding Team Video
- VoA News: Officials Say Somali Piracy is Declining
- Skull & Bones: Iranian “Ship of Interest” Video
- Skull & Bones: Captain Derek Granger Video
- Skull & Bones: Donald Cook Engineering Video
- Skull & Bones: NATO Commodore Visits Donald Cook Video
- Skull & Bones: Donald Cook Getting Underway Video
Gee the French (French!?) did that a couple of years ago and took back one of their crews. Personally I always thought that if you sent in a team of recon Marines/Special Forces backed up by a MK5 boat team, the bad guys would probably reconsider their current career path.
Foo
Radio Netherlands is still on board.
Latest article: Dutch, Chinese navies meet at sea.
http://blogs.rnw.nl/vredeenveiligheid/2009/11/23/dutch-chinese-navies-meet-at-sea/
[...] War is Boring has “Regaining the Initiative against Somali Pirates“. [...]
[...] Related: Mogadishu Hotel Bombing Claims Reporters, Officials World Politics Review: Somali Islamists Reject U.N Food Aid Kidnapped Somali Journos, Freed Regaining the Initiative against Somali Pirates World Politics Review: Counterpiracy Mission Targets Seafarers’ Hearts and Minds No Comments so far Leave a comment RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI Leave a comment Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong> [...]
[...] Related: Maritime, Air Roles for A.U. Peacekeepers in Somalia Puntland Scraps Makeshift Pirate-Fighting Force Survivor Describes Mogadishu Hotel Bombing Mogadishu Hotel Bombing Claims Reporters, Officials World Politics Review: Somali Islamists Reject U.N Food Aid Kidnapped Somali Journos, Freed Regaining the Initiative against Somali Pirates World Politics Review: Counterpiracy Mission Targets Seafarers’ Hearts and Minds No Comments so far Leave a comment RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI Leave a comment Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong> [...]
Why does no one seem to care that the Somalis have over $300 million worth of fish STOLEN from their territorial waters by countries such as china, indonesia,india and certain EU nations??? Currently they take around $100 million in ransoms per year which still seems like a rough deal. Don’t see anyone trying to protect what’s stolen from one of the poorest countries in the world anytime soon do you? Hypocrisy at its finest.
[...] Air Roles for A.U. Peacekeepers in Somalia Puntland Scraps Makeshift Pirate-Fighting Force Regaining the Initiative against Somali Pirates World Politics Review: Counterpiracy Mission Targets Seafarers’ Hearts and Minds 1 Comment 1 [...]