Paco Rivas wrote:Spanish Gov. has just announced the sendding of one P3 from this week end to fight against the pirates of the Somalian Sea. It could be the new P3M.
Regards,
Paco Rivas
Well Paco, thx for the info!!!
Here is the spanish Orion based at Djibouti, but in 2003...
Many thanks for the update Tintin.
So far the air coverage seems to be added-up. To counter the piracy it still lacks of adequate maritime forces, but that's off-topic for this discussion board.
Rockville wrote:Many thanks for the update Tintin.
So far the air coverage seems to be added-up. To counter the piracy it still lacks of adequate maritime forces, but that's off-topic for this discussion board.
Hi Rockville,
That's the CTF 150's mission with between 10 and 15 vessels in the area, but it seems not to be enough against Somali pirates...
But as you said, that's off-topic.
"Spain’s Defense Ministry says one of its patrol planes has helped prevent a hijacking in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia.
In a statement Wednesday, the ministry said its PS Orion aircraft received a distress call from the Panamanian-registered oil tanker Leander, indicating it was being attacked by pirates.
The ministry said the plane flew to the scene, about 210 kilometers off the coast of Somalia and circled the ship three times, launching smoke bombs toward the small, pirate boats.
The plane reported that, after the third pass, the pirates gave up their attack and retreated.
Maritime officials say pirates in the Gulf of Aden have attacked more than 60 ships this year and hijacked at least 30.
Earlier this week, a NATO warship escorted a cargo vessel to a port in Somalia, in the first such mission since NATO ships arrived in the region to fight piracy.
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the warship accompanied a vessel taking supplies to Burundian peacekeepers in Somalia.
NATO has dispatched seven ships to join the international effort against piracy in the Gulf of Aden and along Somalia’s eastern coast.
Meanwhile, Germany today approved a 13-month extension of its monitoring mission in the Gulf of Aden, though it lowered the number of troops allowed on the mission from 1,400 to 800. Germany currently has 90 soldiers in the region.
Somalia’s interim government is fighting an Islamist insurgency and has been unable to patrol the coastline."
