November 2009

On the evening of 26 November 2009, the owner of the 142 foot long Indian Dhow Shree Narayan, previously reported being hijacked by Somali pirates on 18 November 18, confirmed by telephone the pirates had left the vessel.

On 29 November a Greek Crude Oil Tanker named the M/V Maran Centaurus was hijacked in the Somali Bassin, 600 nautical miles North East of the Seychelles. Maran Centaurus has a deadweight of 300,294 tonnes and a crew of 28, among them 9 Greek, 16 Filipinos, 2 Ukrainian and 1 Romanian.

On November 25th 2009 EU NAVFOR Greek warship HS Adrias neutralised a suspected Pirate Attack Group approximately 260 nautical miles North-East of Seychelles.

EU NAVFOR warship Louise-Marie protects WFP M/V Semlow – Hijacked in 2005

The Commanding Officers of the three largest Counter Piracy Task Forces in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean met on board the NATO flagship NRP Alvares Cabral on November 21 in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor in the Gulf of Aden, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes be

From the 20th until 24th of November, the EUNAVFOR Belgian Warship Louise-Marie escorted the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) ship “Alpha Kirawira”.

On Sunday November 22nd the Force Commander of the European Union Naval Force Somalia (EU NAVFOR), Commodore Pieter Bindt, met with his Chinese counterpart, Commander of Task Force 529 (CTF 529), Rear Admiral Wang Zhiguo on board the EU NAVFOR Netherlands flagship HNLMS Evertsen in the Golf

On 18 November, Mr.

From 12th till 17th of November, EU NAVFOR Netherlands Flagship HNLMS Evertsen visited Muscat, Oman. During this visit the EU NAVFOR Force Commander, Commodore Pieter Bindt RNLN, met with the Deputy Governor of Muscat, Mr.

On Tuesday November 17th 2009 an EU NAVFOR Maritime Patrol Aircraft stationed at the Seychelles detected three suspected pirate skiffs approximately 300 nautical miles north of Seychelles and another two suspected pirate skiffs to the east of that position.

On Friday 13 November, during an anti piracy patrol mission in the Indian Ocean, 9 Somali fishermen were picked up by EU NAVFOR warship HNOMS FRIDTJOF NANSEN.

A delegation from the European Union Naval Force Somalia (EU NAVFOR – Op Atalanta) visited the Russian Federation authorities in Moscow on 12 – 13 November to discuss coordination issues in the Gulf of Aden in the international fight against piracy.

On the early morning of 18 November 2009, 350 nautical miles east from the Somali coast, pirates attacked MV Maersk Alabama, a US flagged, Danish owned, 155 meter long, Container ship.

This afternoon the hijacked Spanish Fishing Vessel Alakrana was released by pirates after spending 7 weeks in pirate captivity.

On 16 November in the Gulf of Aden, the Ukrainian Cargo Ship MV LADY JULIET (flagged St Vincent & The Grenadines) heading West was attacked by pirates firing Kalashnikovs and rocket propelled grenades.

On 16 November a Virgin Islands owned (operated from Singapore) Chemical Tanker named the MV Theresa VIII was hijacked in the south Somali Basin, 180 nautical miles North West of the Seychelles. Theresa VIII has a deadweight of 22,294 tonnes and a crew of 28 North Koreans.

On Thursday 12 November, the EU NAVFOR French warship Floreal tracked down and apprehended the pirate attack group responsible for the recently reported attacks 500 miles north west of the Seychelles.

On the morning of 12 November, east in the Gulf of Aden, two merchant vessels were attacked by pirates. There are no reports of casualties.

At 1400 local time 11 November 2009 shots were fired upon two RHIB’s from EU NAVFOR warship HNOMS Fridtjof Nansen, 83 nautical miles from Boosaaso.

Early this morning on 11 November a Greek owned (Marshall Island flagged) vessel named the MV Filitsa was hijacked in the south Somali Basin, 400 nautical miles North East of the Seychelles. The Bulk Carrier with a deadweight of 23,709 tonnes has a crew of 22 consisting of 3 Greek and 19 Philipino.

Following EU NAVFOR’s previous press release of yesterday (Longest range pirate attack), it has emerged that the BW Lion took robust self protection anti piracy measures ensuring that she stayed out of the clutches of the pirates.

The recent evasion of the pirates by the BW LION has been commended by the MNLO's working in the MSCHOA operations centre in the EU NAVFOR OHQ.

On the early morning of 10 November 2009 some 1000 nautical miles east from Mogadishu, Somalia, pirates attacked MV Nele Maersk, a Danish flagged Container ship. The attack took place not far from the area crude oil tanker BW Lion was attacked yesterday.

On 7/8th November EU NAVFOR was invited to participate in a meeting organised by the Chinese PLA to discuss clarifying areas of responsibility in the gulf of Aden and “to find the best formula of international cooperation” for escorting vessels through the Gulf of Aden.

On 27 October 2009 a French Fishing Vessel was attacked by pirates in two attack skiffs. Her embarked military Vessel Protection Detachment (VPD) fired warning shots after which the pirates finally broke of their attack.

Around noon local time, 9 November 2009 the BW Lion, a Hong Kong flagged, 160.000 tons and 330 meter long Crude Oil Tanker was attacked by pirates in two fast attack skiffs in the Indian Ocean, 400 nautical miles North East of the Seychelles and 1000 nautical miles East of Mogadishu, the capital of

On Sunday 8 November the Force Commander of the European Union Naval Force Somalia (EU NAVFOR), Commodore Pieter Bindt, met with his Chinese counterpart, Commander of Task Force 529 (CTF 529), Rear Admiral Wang Zhiguo on board the Chinese flagship Zhou Shan in the Gulf of Aden.

In the evening of 7 November the EU NAVFOR Netherlands warship Evertsen sighted a Dhow adrift in the Gulf of Aden. Evertsen set course to investigate the Somali sailors who were clearly in need of help.

On the morning of November 5th a General Cargo ship and a Bulk Carrier were attacked in the Gulf of Aden. Cooperation between EU NAVFOR and NATO prevented two more hijackings.

In the afternoon of November 5th EU NAVFOR Netherlands warship HNLMS Evertsen handed over 43 Somali castaways to the UNHCR in the Republic of Djibouti.

Early this morning on 5 November a Greek owned (Marshall Island flagged) Bulk Carrier named the MV Delvina was hijacked in the south Somali Basin. The Bulk Carrier with a deadweight of 53,629 tonnes has a crew of 21 consisting of 7 Ukrainian and 14 Philipino.

On the morning of Tuesday November 3rd EU NAVFOR German warship Karlsruhe stopped a suspected pirate mother skiff in the Indian Ocean.

In the afternoon of November 2nd some 360 nautical miles east of Mombasa, Kenya, pirates attempted to hijack MV Harriette and MV Jo Cedar.

On the early morning of November 1st 2009 shots were fired at an EU NAVFOR warship HNOMS Fridjof Nansen, 12 nautical miles east of Caluula, a North Eastern Somali coastal village. The area is known by the naval forces for possible illegal activity including piracy.