14 April 2011

HMAS Stuart's crew handled a difficult and dangerous mission (all photos : Australian DoD)

HMAS Stuart has interdicted a Yemeni-flagged dhow and rescued three crew members who were being held hostage by Somali pirates off the Horn of Africa.

The interdiction occurred on the morning of Monday, 11th April 2011, after HMAS Stuart had been monitoring suspected pirate activity in the area for several hours.

The Chief Joint Operations, Lieutenant General Mark Evans, said he was very pleased with the way HMAS Stuart’s crew handled a difficult and dangerous mission.

“No shots were fired by either HMAS Stuart or the pirates during the interdiction and no threats were made by the pirates to harm the Yemeni crew once they saw the boarding party rapidly secure the dhow,” Lieutenant General Evans said.

“Stuart’s boarding party did extremely well in maintaining the safety of the dhow’s crew and ensuring a potentially challenging situation did not escalate.”

The Al Shahar 75 was attacked and seized by pirates about 20 days ago.

Fifteen Somali pirates surrendered to HMAS Stuart’s boarding party as they approached the Al Shahar 75.

During a search of the dhow, the boarding party located 11 AK-47 assault rifles with 16 magazines, a large quantity of small arms ammunition and a Rocket Propelled Grenade Launcher with grenade. The weapons were catalogued and then disposed over-board.

The unarmed pirates were released in their skiff after being provided with adequate water, food, fuel and communication equipment to make the nearest land-fall off the Somalia coast.

The Yemeni vessel was safely escorted from the area by HMAS Stuart.

The Royal Australian Navy frigate is deployed to the Middle East, conducting maritime security, counter-terrorism and counter-piracy operations with the Combined Maritime Forces.

(Australian DoD)

11 April 2011 RSAF Fokker 50 MPA (photo Xairforces)

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has deployed a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) Fokker-50 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (F-50 MPA) to support the international counter-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden. Chief of Air Force Major-General Ng Chee Meng officiated at the send-off ceremony for the 38-man F-50 MPA detachment at Changi Air Base this morning.

This is the first time that the SAF has deployed an F-50 MPA to support the international counter-piracy efforts. During its three-month deployment, the F-50 MPA detachment will be based in Djibouti and operate under the ambit of multinational Combined Task Force (CTF) 151. The F-50 MPA will conduct maritime air surveillance to provide CTF 151 with an enhanced sea situation picture of the Gulf of Aden, as well as perform coordinated search operations to locate and investigate suspicious vessels. The detachment comprises air, ground and communications support crew, as well as logistics personnel.

Since April 2009, the SAF has deployed two SAF task groups to the Gulf of Aden, each comprising a Landing Ship Tank and two Super Puma helicopters. The SAF was also in command of CTF 151 from Jan to Apr 2010. CTF 151 is currently led by Rear-Admiral (RADM) Harris Chan from the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), who is supported by an SAF command team.

(Mindef)

01 April 2011

RSN personnel working alongside the crew of USS Mason in the Combat Information Centre of the USS Mason. (photo : Mindef)

To curb the threat of piracy in the Gulf of Aden, Singapore stepped to the fore for the second time to helm the coalition anti-piracy task force Combined Task Force (CTF) 151.

At a simple ceremony on board the Royal Navy frigate HMS Cornwall in Djibouti on 31 Mar, Commodore Abdul Aleem of the Pakistan Navy handed over command of CTF 151 to Rear-Admiral (RADM) Harris Chan of the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN).

Commander Combined Maritime Forces Vice-Admiral (VADM) Mark Fox and Singapore's Chief of Navy Rear-Admiral (RADM) Ng Chee Peng were present to witness the ceremony.

Over the next three months, RADM Chan will lead the command team of 25 Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) personnel and five officers from Indonesia, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea and Saudi Arabia, to coordinate operations to disrupt piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

The team, which will operate from the United States Navy destroyer, USSMason, will work closely with task forces from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the European Union as well as with navies from other countries assigned to protect national vessels operating in the Gulf.

This cooperation will enable CTF 151 to cover an area of approximately 1.1 million square miles (2.5 million sq km) in the Gulf of Aden, where pirates have been wreaking havoc.

RSAF Fokker 50 MPA (photo : XAirforces)

At the ceremony, RADM Chan said: "We are honoured to take over command of CTF 151 for the second time at the invitation of the Combined Maritime Forces. The Gulf of Aden remains a key sea lane that depends on international cooperation to keep it safe for everyone"s use.

"My command team has spent the last few months preparing, planning and training for this mission. We are committed and focused on our mission to disrupt piracy in the Gulf of Aden."

When asked what challenges the command team expects to face, RADM Chan told cyberpioneer: "We're at the tail end of the northeast monsoon, so we expect the pirates to take advantage of the calm seas to attack merchant ships in the area.

"However, we are familiar with their tactics and have developed a very robust concept of operations to deal with this threat."

Singapore's first CTF 151 command stint, headed by RADM Bernard Miranda, successfully concluded in April last year.

Since 2009, the SAF has deployed two Task Groups, each comprising a Landing Ship Tank and two helicopters, from April to July 2009 and June to October 2010 to the Gulf of Aden.

Come April, the SAF will deploy a Fokker-50 Maritime Patrol Aircraft to perform maritime air surveillance in the Gulf until July this year.

(Mindef)