Combined international naval force launches anti-piracy operations

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KARACHI — Naval forces from 15 countries began a joint operation against high-seas predators in the Gulf of Aden between Somalia and Yemen, said Pakistan Navy Commodore Salman Ali September 2.

“Naval forces from the U.S., UK, Italy, Germany, Spain, Greece, France, Belgium, Sweden, the Netherlands, Malaysia, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are participating in anti-piracy operations being carried out by ‘Task Force-151’,” said Ali.

TF-151 is an international maritime coalition off the coast of Somalia under the overall command of the U.S. Navy. The first-ever major operation of its kind launched against the sea robbers, TF-151 was created to combat growing incidents of high-seas robberies, hijacking of ships and kidnapping of crews.

Ali said the Task Force would patrol a prescribed area of the Gulf to hunt the predators and to provide security to the commercial ships. The Pakistani Navy (PN) has deployed two ships to participate.

“The incidents of piracy have tripled in the past decade,” PN Captain Anwar Shah, a senior maritime security expert said. The Malacca Strait is the world’s most dangerous point for the ships while Somalia and Indonesia are particularly notorious.

According to estimates of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), sea piracy costs about US$13 to $16 billion a year. Shah said half of the incidents of robberies go unreported because of the high cost of insurance. To compensate, Shah said that shipping lines are engaging private security agencies and private military contractors to get protection from the sea robbers.