Weekly Piracy Update from NATO

During the reporting period 14 to 20 June, 2012,  there have been two pirate attacks in the High Risk Area (HRA)

The increase of attacks within the past week is evidence that pirate activity can still take place during the South-West Monsoon and Masters should remain vigilant to this threat.

Southern Red Sea (SRS)/Bab Al Mandeb (BAM) / Gulf of Aden (GOA)/Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC)
On 18 Jun 2012 a merchant vessel was attacked by 3 skiffs at position 14 28 N 050 45 E. Each skiff had 5-6 persons on board. Small arms and Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) were used against the merchant vessel.

Arabian Sea (AS)/Greater Somali Basin (SB)/Gulf of Oman (GOO)/Mozambique Channel (MC)
Early morning 20 Jun 2012 a merchant vessel was attacked by 1 skiff with 5-6 persons aboard at position 20 50N 059 30E.  The skiff fired upon the vessel with small arms at a distance of 1nm. Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) were also seen aboard the skiff.

Due to the South-West monsoon between June and September, sea conditions in the HRA are expected to be generally unfavourable for small boats. PAGs will likely continue to focus their efforts in the Northern Arabian Sea (NAS), Gulf of Oman (GOO) as well as in the Gulf of Aden (GOA) and South Red Sea (SRS).