U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) for 3 February to 3 March 2021

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea

"UKMTO reports blast on Gulf of Oman ship"

An Israeli owned, Bahamian flagged car carrier has reported an explosion in the Gulf of Oman, as reported here:

A Bahamas-flagged ship, the MV HELIOS RAY, has been hit by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and a maritime security firm say.

"Investigations are ongoing. Vessel and crew are safe," the UKMTO's advisory notice said.

The incident occurred at 2040 GMT, it said, but gave no details about a possible cause.

***

Maritime security firm Dryad Global said the MV HELIOS RAY was a vehicle carrier owned by Helios Ray Ltd, an Israeli firm registered in the Isle of Man.

The ship was en route to Singapore from Dammam in Saudi Arabia.

Dryad Global report and analysis here:

Whilst details regarding the incident remain unclear it remains a realistic possibility that the event was the result of asymmetric activity by Iranian military. Such activity would be commensurate with current tensions and Iranian intent to exercise forceful diplomacy through military means within its immediate area of interest.

ShipSpotting.com

© Marcus-S

Somali Pirates: NATO's Recent Updates

NSC | Daily Piracy Update:

A merchant vessel was attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Oman (GOO), 2435N 05734E, at 1540 hrs UTC on 15 Dec. All crew were able to take refuge in vessel's citadel. Pirates were not able to penetrate the citadel and did not remain on board. This vessel avoided being hijacked and is now safe. This Pirate Action Group (PAG) is assumed to still be in the area.

On 15 Dec at 0420 hrs UTC, in the GOO (2409N 05904E), a merchant vessel was approached by a white skiff with 5-6 persons on board. The skiff had been launched from a mother dhow. The skiff came within 0.2 nm of the vessel and ladders and weapons were reported. The vessel's armed security team fired warning shots and the skiff moved away. The vessel is now safe. This may have been the same PAG as the recent incident above, as both these incidents occurred in the same area on the same day.

In addition to the incidents above, the NATO Shipping Centre has identified two other areas of concern on our PAG map. One is in the Indian Ocean, far off the Somali Coast. The other is in the northern Arabian Sea just off the central coastal area of Oman. Reports have indicated a possible increase in pirate activity in these two areas. This second area of concern may be related to the two incidents above as they are all in the northern Arabian Sea/GOO.

Despite deterioration in conditions associated with the approaching Northeast monsoon, sea states remain conducive to piracy operations. Merchant vessels are advised to remain vigilant throughout the High Risk Area (HRA) and ensure that Self Protection Measures are in place, as PAGs continue to operate in the area.

Recently, PAGs have also made “soft-approaches” on merchant ships transiting the HRA. A skiff will often approach a vessel to probe the reactivity of an embarked security team (if present). If they elicit no response, the pirates may proceed with an attack, sometimes accompanied by a second skiff. This practice would seem to allow pirates to avoid needless expenditures of ammunition and personal risk without a significant probability of success.

A large number of fishing vessels also operate in the South Red Sea (SRS), the Bab-Al-Mandeb (BAM) and up to 50 nm off the west coast of India. Fishing vessels may approach a merchant ship to maximize fishing opportunities or to safeguard fishing nets. Fishing off India is generally carried out using long lines by mechanized or single-hull boats which typically have outboard motors and carry 4-6 crew members. Masters are requested to ensure that they distinguish between fishing vessels and potential pirates; fishermen may carry small arms.

Somali Pirates: Maersk vessel fights off pirates in Gulf of Oman

Reported as "Maersk vessel attacked by pirates in Gulf of Oman" by Reuters:

The Maersk Texas, a multi-purpose dry cargo ship, was attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Oman but guards repelled the attack, Maersk Line Ltd, a unit of Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk , said on Wednesday.

Private armed security guards win again.

 Photo of Maersk Texas (click on it to enlarge) from

ShipSpotting.com

© Rogério Cordeiro

UPDATE: Location should not be all that surprising - as you can see from the nearby weather maps (thanks, Weatheronline!), the winds off Oman are not so helpful for small boat ops, but inside the Gulf of Oman, the conditions are better. This situation was predicted by ONI in its Piracy Analysis and Warning Weekly issued 17 May 2012 from which the following weather guesser map of areas of likely pirate operations was obtained:

The white arrow is my attempt to point to the area of the Gulf of Oman that ONI pointed out as high risk.

Here is the WeatherOnline map of the Gulf of Oman from today:

 As you can see, it's pretty brisk out there except fairly well up into the Gulf of Oman.

UPDATE2: gCaptain has some more which may correct part of this interesting (but perhaps misleading) Bloomberg article identifying the area of the attack as being in the Gulf of Oman north of the port of Fujairah - roughly the area I pointed that white arrow to.

Somali Pirates: Iran Navy Rescues Crew of Chinese Ship, Captures Pirates

See initial report of hijacking here.

Now, it appears the Iranians have come to the rescue as reported in "Hijacked ship crew members rescued":

All 28 Chinese crew members aboard a China-linked cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates were rescued on Friday, the Chinese embassy in Tehran said.

The cargo ship, Xianghuamen, was hijacked by Somali pirates at about 8:40 am local time (0410 GMT) on Friday in the Sea of Oman near Iran's southern port of Chabahar.
***
Nine Somali pirates climbed onto the cargo ship by their own ladders, fired shots on the ship and seized the Chinese crew members on board.

Two Iranian naval warships participating in the rescue operation followed the vessel and ordered the pirates to surrender. The pirates later threw their weapons into the sea and surrendered to the Iranian navy.

The hijacked cargo ship's engine was damaged and is in repair. Later the ship will head for the Iranian port of Gask, 70 miles (about 112 km) away from where the hijacking occurred and 200 miles (about 322 km) away from the vessel's destination.

Kudos to the Iranian Navy.

No word on the cargo of the vessel.

Somali Pirates: U.S. Navy Ships Momsen and Bunker Hill Disrupt Pirate Attack

Reported as Momsen and Bunker Hill Disrupt Pirate Attack:

USS Momsen (DDG 92) and USS Bunker Hill (CG 52) disrupted a pirate attack on Panamanian flagged merchant vessel Duqm, Feb. 2 in the Gulf of Oman.

USS Momsen

While transiting in international waters, the merchant vessel reported that pirates were attempting to board the vessel. Momsen and Bunker Hill, which were in the vicinity, immediately responded to the Duqm's distress signal and caused two pirates skiffs alongside the vessel with ladders against its hull to flee the area.

USS Bunker Hill

Momsen and Bunker Hill tracked the skiffs movement and located the mothership that facilitated the attempted boarding of Duqm, towing the two empty skiffs. Consistent with the U.N. Security Council Resolutions on piracy and U.S. rules of engagement, Momsen destroyed the two skiffs to prevent their use for future attacks.

Photo of shot on towed skiff by Chief Hull Maintenance Technician John Parkin.

UPDATE2: Another photo added above -thanks Bryan! 
UPDATE3: All photos of incident by Chief Hull Maintenance Technician John Parkin. Here's a third:

VLCC Duqm

UPDATE: More on owner of VLCC Duqm here.

Somali Pirates: Starting the Week with a Bang

As of Sunday, reports of Pirate Action Groups and attacks from here put on a map:

In case you missed it, the Indian Navy and Coast Guard sank a pirate mother ship and rescued some hostages as well as arresting several pirates. See here and here (reporting a 12 hour "battle" between the pirates and the Indian forces).

India has now announced a "zero tolerance" for pirates "messing" in Indian waters, see here:

The Navy's sinking of a pirate 'mother vessel' off the Lakshadweep Islands will send a "strong message" to the sea brigands that India will not tolerate their nefarious designs anywhere near its waters, Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma told TOI on Sunday.

"There is no question of anybody messing in our waters or area... it's absolutely unacceptable to us," Admiral Verma said.

This comes after naval fast attack craft INS Cankarso sank Prantalay, a hijacked Thai trawler being used as a mother vessel by Somali pirates to carry out attacks for the last nine months, after a hot chase on Friday night. In the well-executed operation, the Navy apprehended 15 pirates as well as rescued 20 Thai and Myanmar nationals who had been taken hostage on board Prantalay. "The pirates are being interrogated... they are being brought to Mumbai for legal proceedings," Admiral Verma said.

In the meantime, an attack off the coast of Iran is the northernmost reported attack by Somali pirates to date (see here). New reports are that an Iranian frigate helped break up the attack. See Vesseltracker.com report:

Star of Abu Dhabi from Shipspotting.com by Dragec (used iaw terms of Shipspotting.com)

Star Of Abu Dhabi was attacked 30-JAN-11 .....19.6nm SW of Chabahar Port, Iran . . . by a PAG consisting of 2 skiffs with 3 pirates in each . . . The PAG broke off their attack when an Iranian Warship arrived in the area. The vessel was enroute . . . to Port Khomeini in Iran.

SAS Mendi

It appears that the South African Navy may soon deploy one of its new ships to assist in fighting East African piracy -see here:

. . . [O]ne of the navy's new frigates, the SAS Mendi, headed for Durban a week ago in anticipation of the signing of an agreement aimed at protecting Mozambique against piracy.

UPDATE: The South Koreans did a perp walk with the 5 Somali pirates captured by ROK forces when they retook the Samho Jewelry (see here and here):

RMN photo

Malaysia, too, has its captured 7 pirates (see here for post on their capture) in custody as reported by the "BBC" in its article titled (and scare quoted) as Seven Somali 'pirates' held in custody by Malaysia:

Seven Somali men accused of being pirates have arrived in Malaysia where they could face prosecution.

AFP Photo

They were captured by the Malaysian navy 10 days ago as they allegedly tried to hijack a tanker in the Gulf of Aden.
Legal experts in Malaysia are now studying whether they can be charged.

Pirate Attack Off Coast of Iran

Early report of an attack on a merchant ship approximately 20 miles off Iran. Attack was unsuccessful.

Reports indicate usual firing of automatic weapons and RPGs.

NATO Shipping Center message:

January 30, 2011

WARNING INDIAN OCEAN

Latitude: 25°01N  Longitude: 060°26E

Alert number 071/ 2011.

At 1013 UTC / 30 JAN 2011 / A merchant vessel was reported under attack by 2 skiffs with 3 POB in. Vessel was fired upon by small arms.

***This vessel managed to evade hijack***

The Pirate Action Group is still in the area.

Location:

This may mark another move by Somali pirates into a major shipping lane.

I suppose that it speaks volumes about the threat perceived by the pirates by Iranian naval or other forces that the pirates can strike within 20 miles of the Iranian coast.

UPDATE: No, I am not suggesting Iran has any obligation to patrol 20 miles off its coast. As far as I know, they assert a 12-miles territorial waters limit and that would also limit their security area. Iran has long been involved with anti-pirate patrols in the Gulf of Aden (here). They may have to start working closer to home.

UPDATE2: New reports are that an Iranian frigate helped break up the attack. See Vesseltracker.com report:

Star Of Abu Dhabi was attacked 30-JAN-11 .....19.6nm SW of Chabahar Port, Iran . . . by a PAG consisting of 2 skiffs with 3 pirates in each . . . The PAG broke off their attack when an Iranian Warship arrived in the area. The vessel was enroute . . . to Port Khomeini in Iran.

Good on Iran, then, in this instance.

Somali Pirates: German-owned Chemical Tanker Taken Off Oman

MSC(HOA) reports here:

Early this afternoon, 8 May, a Marshal Island flagged, German owned, Chemical tanker the MARIDA MARGUERITE, of 13000 tonnes, was hijacked 120 miles south of Salalah (Oman).
The ship was approached by a pirate skiff firing automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades and the crew reported that they saw the pirates climbing onboard.
The ship has a crew of 22 (19 Indian, 1 Ukranian, 2 Bangladeshi) and it is believed that all are well. A passing merchant ship tried to make contact by VHF radio but received a response from the bridge of the hijacked vessel to “go away”. EU NAVFOR will continue to monitor the situation.

Ship photo by Malte Wulf from Shipspotting.com and used in accord with the terms of that site.

Map shows approximate location of attack.

Somali Pirates: USS McFaul Captures Suspected Pirates, Rescues Crew

Reported as USS McFaul Captures Suspected Pirates, Rescues Crew:

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Rachel McMarr

MANAMA, Bahrain (NNS) -- USS McFaul (DDG 74) captured ten suspected pirates and rescued eight crewmembers from the pirated Indian cargo dhow Faize Osamani, near Salalah, Oman, April 5 after the dhow and three skiffs attempted to attack the Motor Vessel (M/V) Rising Sun the same day.

M/V Rising Sun sent a distress call the morning of April 5 to alert maritime forces that pirate skiffs had pulled alongside and were firing small arms and rocket propelled grenades at their vessel. The Omani warship Al Sharquiyah (B 11) and U.S. destroyer USS McFaul (DDG 74) immediately responded.

As the naval vessels were in transit, M/V Rising Sun used the industry recommended "best management practices" of increasing speed, evasive maneuvers and spraying potential attackers with fire hoses to thwart the pirate attack as the navies were in transit. These efforts were rewarded when the pirate skiffs broke off their attack and returned to their pirated mother ship, the Faize Osamani.

Arriving first to the last known location of the pirated mothership was the Omani vessel. As the Omani ship approached, the nine hostage sailors from Faize Osamani jumped into the ocean in an attempt to get away from the dangerous pirates and toward their rescuer. The Omani Navy was able to rescue eight of these crew members, however, one crew member drowned. Despite the loss of their hostages, the pirates remained aboard the Faize Osamani.

As the Omani ship rendered assistance to the escaped hostages, USS McFaul arrived on scene. With two warships now operating in close proximity, the pirates agreed to a compliant boarding. McFaul approached the dhow and directed the suspected pirates to surrender by gathering on the bow with their hands in the air, which they quickly complied with but not before throwing their weapons overboard. Two boarding teams from McFaul deployed in rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIB), boarded the dhow and took control of the Faize Osamani.

The surviving sailors of the dhow Faize Osamani have been returned to their vessel, while their lost shipmate has been transported to shore by the Omani warship. The suspected pirates were subsequently transferred to USS Carney (DDG 64) in anticipation of further transfer to a state willing to accept the pirates for prosecution.
***

DhowPhoto credit and captions:

GULF OF OMAN (April 5, 2010) Members of a visit, board, search and seizure team from the guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul (DDG 74) inspect the Indian-flagged vessel Faize Osamani. The dhow was a suspected pirate mothership accused of firing small arms and rocket-propelled grenades at the Motor Vessel Rising Sun. The Sailors took ten suspected pirates into custody and rescued eight crewmembers that had escaped from the dhow. McFaul is supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of Responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)

Ship photo credit and caption:

The guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul (DDG 74) makes a hard turn while underway in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jason R. Zalasky/Released)