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US 5th fleet announces new international anti-piracy force
Manama (AFP) Jan 8, 2009 The US Fifth Fleet announced Thursday the launch of a new international naval force to fight piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean after a wave of hijackings off the coast of Somalia. "The Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) has established Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151) specifically for counter-piracy operations," the Bahrain-based fleet said in a statement. US Navy Rear Admiral Terence McKnight has been named commander of the task force, which is expected to be "fully operational by the middle of January," according to the statement. CMF Commander, US Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, said in the statement that the new task force would focus exclusively on the fight against increasingly bold acts of piracy being carried out by pirates operating from largely lawless Somalia. "Some navies in our coalition did not have the authority to conduct counter-piracy missions," the statement quoted Gortney as saying. The new taskforce would allow other countries to "support our goal of deterring, disrupting and eventually bringing to justice the maritime criminals involved in piracy events," he added. The Fifth Fleet said that the US ships are the only ones taking part in the new task force, however other nations were expected to announce their participation soon. "Right now the US is the only one in CTF-151 but we anticipate other nations will join in the near future and they will announce in their own time," Lieutenant Stephanie Murdock of the Fifth Fleet public affairs office told AFP by phone. She added the task force comprised of three ships, led by USS San Antonio, and two aircraft. Pirates attacked more than 100 ships in 2008 off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden, raking in an estimated 120 million dollars in ransom money. Their biggest prize was the Saudi super-tanker Sirius Star which they seized on November 15 of last year, laden with 100 million dollars worth of oil. The CMF consists of more than 20 countries. Last December the European Union dispatched the Atalanta maritime force, comprising six ships and headed by Vice Admiral Phillip Jones, to the region with a mission to escort trading ships and the ships of the World Food Programme that are headed to Somalia. The CTF-151 will work in coordination with the European maritime force Atalanta, Murdock said. European military ships already patrol the Gulf of Aden, one of the most dangerous maritime routes in the world. Admiral Gortney of the US Fifth Fleet cautioned that the efforts of the international navies will not end the piracy problem. "The problem of piracy is and continues to be a problem that begins ashore and is an international problem that requires an international solution. We believe the establishment of CTF-151 is a significant step in the right direction." Related Links 21st Century Pirates
Chinese navy begins landmark Somali piracy patrols: state media
Beijing (AFP) Jan 6, 2009A Chinese naval convoy arrived Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden on a landmark mission to protect the country's shipping from Somali pirates and escorted its first four vessels, state media reported. |
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