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Saturday December 2, 2023
Fishing dhow was tracked by EURONAV Operation ALALANTA before enter Somalia’s territorial waters (EUNAVFOR)
The joint EU-sponsored force responsible for maritime security along the East African coast including Somalia reports that it has tracked and provided details to the Somali police forces for follow-up on the recent security incident. First reported a week ago, the disappearance of a fishing boat raised fears of new piracy activity in the northwestern Indian Ocean off Somalia and came days before the assault on the tanker Central Park, which the U.S. blamed on pirates.
Media reports in Somalia last week highlighted the seizure of the ALMERAJ 1 possibly as a stateless vessel involved in illegal fishing activities. The report said that pirates had seized the fishing dhow and were demanding $400,000 in ransom while threatening to use the vessel as a mother ship for additional assaults on commercial shipping.
The European Union Naval Force Operation (EUNAVFOR) ATALANTA which monitors shipping to maintain security in the region reports it was informed of the incident on November 22 by the commander of the Somali Coast Guard. EUNAVFOR began investigating the reports of an abduction of what they are calling an Iranian-flagged fishing dhow off the coast of Eyl (Puntland, Somalia).
Operation ATALANTA monitored the dhow closely for more than 230 nautical miles away from the coast of Somalia. This included the deployment of an unarmed drone and the involvement of the EU embassy in Mogadishu and the Somali authorities. An Italian and a Spanish warship are currently deployed to the area of operation for Operation ATALANTA.
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