Spanish Navy ship under the European Union’s counter-piracy naval force off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean has blown up a ship believed to be a pirate boat on the Indian ocean. The seemingly abandoned boat attempted to hijack a Hong Kong-flagged ship on the Indian Ocean.
The Spanish amphibious assault ship “Castilla,” under the command of Spanish Rear-Admiral Alfonso Pérez de Nanclares has reportedly located and intercepted the pirate vessel.
The pirates off of Somalia’s coast seem to have made several attempts in the past month as a skiff with four armed pirates approached the Sydney at a position about 340 nm off Mogadishu. That attempted piracy was deterred by Sydney’s embarked security team and held the Pirates to a gunfire before the skiff took off.
Somali piracy has fallen far from its peak in 2011-2012 when pirate “mother ship” boats ranged thousands of miles across the Indian Ocean. A combination of armed shipboard security contractors and multinational naval patrols ultimately suppressed the problem, resulting in several years without a successful attack.
The resurgence of piracy off the Horn of Africa coast is an indication that pirates who were mainly linked to al Shabaab are back but with the EU counter-piracy naval force off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean surveillance has been enhanced and most attempts have been thwarted promptly before they escalate.
