The Threat of Modern Piracy- A Merged Thread

[MARS]

Silly pirates...Trix are for kids

From the Globe and Mail

Nairobi — The Associated Press
Published on Thursday, Apr. 01, 2010 10:50AM EDT
U.S. naval forces say they've captured five pirates after exchanging fire with them, sinking their skiff and confiscating a mother ship.

The USS Nicholas came under fire early Thursday from pirates in an area west of the Seychelles.

The U.S. Africa Command said the five pirates seized would remain in U.S. custody on board the frigate for time being. The Nicholas is home-ported in Norfolk, Va.

International naval forces have stepped up their enforcement of the waters off East Africa in an effort to thwart a growing pirate trade.

Experts say piracy will continue to be a problem until an effective government is established on Somalia's lawless shores. The country has not had a functioning government for 19 years.

Things are heating up in the Southern Somali Basin.  NICHOLAS is a 6th Fleet asset - she isn't even in the CMF AOR.  This is the 3rd time in as many weeks that a coalition warship in the SB has been approached by pirates.  Guaranteed these particular pirates are never, ever going to forget the sight and sound of a .50 cal night firing.

 

[CougarKing]

This US Navy warship was attacked by a pirate vessel:

U.S. Navy Captures 5 Pirates After Gun Battle in Indian Ocean
AP

The USS Nicholas reported taking fire from a suspected pirate skiff and returned fire before pursuing it and eventually disabling it.



The USS Nicholas returned fire on the pirate skiff, sinking it and confiscating a nearby mothership. The Navy took five pirates into custody, said Navy Lt. Patrick Foughty, a spokesman.

<more>

Fox News link

 

[The Bread Guy]

USS Nicholas (link to ship's page) Captures Suspected Pirates
Navy Chief Petty Officer Michael Lewis, U.S. 6th Fleet,
American Forces Press Service, 1 Apr 10
Article link

The crew of the USS Nicholas captured suspected pirates today after exchanging fire, sinking a skiff and confiscating a suspected mother ship. Video

While operating west of the Seychelles in international waters, the Nicholas crew reported taking fire at 12:27 a.m. local time from a suspected pirate skiff and returned fire, pursuing the vessel until the disabled skiff stopped.

At about 2 a.m., personnel from Nicholas boarded the disabled skiff and detained three people. The boarding team found ammunition and multiple cans of fuel on board.

After taking the suspected pirates on board, the Nicholas crew sank the disabled skiff at about 3 a.m.

Two more suspected pirates were captured on the confiscated mother ship.

The suspects will remain in U.S. custody on board Nicholas until a determination is made regarding their disposition, officials said....

 

[CougarKing]

Quite an update: an ROKN warship catches up to the recently captured tanker Samho Dream.

Associated Press link

SEOUL, South Korea – A South Korean navy destroyer caught up with a hijacked supertanker carrying about $160 million of crude oil and was maneuvering nearby in the Indian Ocean, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

The supertanker, on its way from Iraq to the United States, is believed to have been hijacked by Somali pirates, the latest high-value bargaining chip for the sea bandits. Similar seizures of oil supertankers in the waters off the coast of lawless Somalia have yielded ransoms as high as $5.5 million.

South Korea's navy received a call Sunday from the South Korean-operated 300,000-ton Samho Dream saying three pirates had boarded it and then lost contact.

At the time, the tanker was about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) southeast of the Gulf of Aden. It has 24 crew — five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos. South Korea quickly diverted a navy destroyer from anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden to pursue the hijacked tanker.

The destroyer caught up and began operating near the hijacked supertanker as of early Tuesday South Korean time, which was late Monday where the ships were operating, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The tanker was sailing toward Somalia's coast, the ministry said. It declined to offer further details, including the exact location of the tanker and destroyer, citing operational security and safety concerns.

South Korea's navy said that the destroyer is armed with a Lynx helicopter, 40 ship-to-ship and ship-to-air missiles and artillery. About 300 sailors and marines, including a 30-member search and inspection team, are aboard the warship, according to the navy.


(...)

 

 

[CougarKing]

This handout released by the US Navy on March 31 shows the USS Farragut after it destroyed a suspected pirate ship. The US warship intercepted suspected Somali pirates and sunk their "mother ship" after they attacked an oil tanker off the Seychelles, the US navy's Fifth Fleet said. (AFP/US Navy/Cassandra Thompson)

This picture released by the EU's Navfor naval force shows the Spanish warship Navarra assisting an Iranian dhow on March 20. Private security guards on board a UAE-owned cargo ship have repelled a hijacking attempt at sea in skirmishes off Somalia that left one pirate dead, the EU's naval force in the area said Wednesday.
(AFP/EU Navfor)

In this file photo issued by EU NAVFOR on Friday March 5, 2010 shows the EU Naval Force French warship FS Nivose with Somali pirate skiffs off the Somali coast on Friday March 5, 2010. The EU Naval Force has disrupted and detained ten pirate groups — each consisting of a mothership and several skiffs — since the new strategy came into place since the start of calmer weather at the beginning of March.
(AP Photo/EU NAVFOR)

A picture released by the EU Navfor shows the boarding party of the EU Navfor Warship HNLMS TROMP intercepting the 10-metre-long (30-foot) whaler off the Somali coast. Armed crews are a good deterrent against Somali pirates, but the problem off the Horn of Africa will only be solved when Somalia itself is at peace, a top US official said Friday. (AFP/EU NAVFOR-HO)

-------------------------

Somali pirates warn SKorean destroyer to stay away
AP

By HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press Writer Hyung-jin Kim, Associated Press Writer – 34 mins ago

SEOUL, South Korea – Somali pirates warned a South Korean destroyer chasing a hijacked supertanker with 24 sailors on board not to get any closer or else risk endangering the crew, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

All crew members of the South Korean-operated, Marshall Island-flagged Samho Dream are safe, the pirates said by phone Wednesday through the tanker's captain in the first contact since the hijacking Sunday in the Indian Ocean.

However, "the safety of the sailors will be in jeopardy" if the destroyer sails any closer, the pirates warned, a ministry official said.
Pirates have been on a streak of ship hijackings in recent weeks, with at least 16 ships and some 240 crew members believed held captive off Somalia's lawless coast.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, and multimillion-dollar ransoms have become a way to make money in the impoverished nation.

On Wednesday, pirates hijacked a Turkish vessel with a crew of 25 off the Kenyan coast, according to the EU Naval Force. Separately, a hostage on board the hijacked Indian cargo dhow Faize Osamani drowned Tuesday when the ship was used to attack another vessel and navies intervened.

The Samho Dream, loaded with about $160 million in crude oil, was hijacked on Sunday. A South Korean naval destroyer on anti-piracy patrol in the area took off in pursuit of the 300,000-ton tanker and caught up with it the next day, officials in Seoul said.

The captain said the pirates are "heavily armed" and warned that they should not be provoked since the tanker is carrying a large amount of crude oil, a ministry statement said. The hijackers had demanded direct contact with the ship's owner, it said.

Formal negotiations over the crew's release have not begun, Foreign Ministry spokesman Kim Young-sun said.
The tanker remained anchored about 4.5 miles (7 kilometers) off the Somali coast, with the South Korean destroyer monitoring nearby, the ministry said. The crew includes five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos.

Associated Press link

Chungmugong Yisunshin,  a South Korean navy destroyer equipped with weapons that can hit targets as far as 32 km (20 miles) away, and a Lynx combat helicopter on board, is seen in this undated file picture released by local Yonhap news agency in Seoul April 6, 2010. The Chungmugong Yisunshin has caught up with a supertanker hijacked by pirates that is cruising towards the Somali coast with a cargo of crude oil worth as much as $170 million, an official said on Tuesday. The South Korean-operated, Singapore-owned Samho Dream, which can carry more than 2 million barrels of crude, was seized on Sunday en route from Iraq to the United States, in the latest sign the sea gangs are targeting bigger quarry. REUTERS/Yonhap

 

[GAP]

US Navy holds 6 suspected pirates
Last Updated: April 10, 2010
Article Link

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The U.S. Navy is holding six suspected pirates after a sea battle off the Horn of Africa.

It's the third U.S. Navy encounter with pirates in the past 10 days in the violence-plagued waters off Somalia and nearby regions. At least 21 suspected pirates have been captured.

The U.S. Navy says suspected pirates began shooting at the amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland Saturday, about 380 miles off Djibouti, a small nation facing Yemen across the mouth of the Red Sea.

The Navy says the Ashland returned fire and the suspected pirate skiff was destroyed. All six people on board were rescued and taken aboard the Ashland.

The Ashland suffered no injuries or damage.
end

 

[The Bread Guy]

This from the Associated Press:

A group of 10 suspected Somali pirates facing trial in Germany arrived in the Netherlands on a military transport plane Wednesday and were shuttled off to prison pending their extradition.

An Associated Press photographer saw the KDC-10 transport plane carrying the men land at a military base in the southern city of Eindhoven. He could see the suspects' faces in the windows of a covered stairwell before they were loaded into police vans with blackened windows and driven away.

The 10 were captured April 5 by Dutch special forces marines who slid down ropes from a helicopter to recapture the seized German container ship MV Taipan.

Germany has issued an arrest warrant for the men and plans to prosecute them, a rare instance of a European country choosing to put suspected pirates on trial.

Most suspects arrested by the European Union's anti-piracy naval task force are disarmed and released, and put back in their boat with enough food, water and fuel to get them back to the Somali coast.

A handful have been turned over to Kenya or the Seychelles for prosecution. But Kenya has been reluctant to accept piracy suspects in recent weeks, arguing its criminal justice system is already overloaded.....

From some media coverage of the original rescue:

 

[CougarKing]

Good job to the USS Farragut:

AFP link

US Navy thwarts Somali pirate seizure of ship


1 hour, 7 minutes ago


MANAMA (AFP) - A US naval destroyer thwarted an attempt by suspected Somali pirates to seize a Thai-flagged ship in the Gulf of Aden on Friday, the multinational anti-piracy task force said.


The bulk carrier MV Thor Traveler came under attack in the early hours by a skiff with seven suspected pirates who fired on it for 10 minutes with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, a statement said.


A distress call was answered by the USS Farragut, whose helicopter "located the suspected pirate skiff as it was attempting to escape. The helicopter used spotlights and smoke floats to warn the skiff to stop and witnessed the skiff throw items overboard."


It said a boarding team confiscated further "pirate paraphernalia," and that the skiff was instructed to head back to the Somali coast.


The Farragut is the flagship of the task force, which was established in January 2009 to counter piracy and which patrols more than 2.5 million square miles (6.5 million square kilometres) in the Gulf of Aden and off the east coast of Somalia.

 

 

[CougarKing]

More pirate attacks:

Somali pirates seize 3 Thai ships with 77 crew
AP

By KATHARINE HOURELD, Associated Press Writer Katharine Houreld, Associated Press Writer – 30 mins ago

NAIROBI, Kenya – Somali pirates hijacked three Thai fishing vessels with 77 crew aboard more than 1,200 miles (1,930 kilometers) from the Somali coast, the farthest-off-shore attack to date, the EU Naval Force said Tuesday.

Pirates have expanded their range south and east in response to an increase in patrols by European and American warships off the Somali shore.

The hijacking of the three Thai vessels happened Sunday, said Cmdr. John Harbour, a spokesman for the EU Naval Force. The attack took place well outside the area that the EU force operates in, he said.

The three vessels — the MV Prantalay 11, 12, and 14 — have 77 crew onboard in total. All the crew are Thai, Harbour said. The owner of the vessels is PT Interfishery Ltd.

Pirates have increased attacks against shipping vessels over the last year in hopes of netting the multi-million dollar ransoms they can earn. Because of increased naval patrols and increased defenses on board commercial vessels, the pirates' success rate has gone down, though the number of successful attacks has stayed about the same year over year.

link

Somali pirates seize ship with 21 Filipinos aboard
AP


By KATHARINE HOURELD, Associated Press Writer Katharine Houreld, Associated Press Writer – 27 mins ago

NAIROBI, Kenya – Four suspected Somali pirates carrying AK-47s and a rocket-propelled grenade seized a bulk carrier with 21 crew on board Wednesday, the fourth ship pirates have seized in less than a week, officials said.

The Panamanian-flagged, Liberian-owned Voc Daisy was taken about 200 miles (300 kilometers) outside the corridor where international warships guard convoys of merchant vessels, said Cmdr. John Harbour, a spokesman for the EU Naval Force.

The hijacking of the Voc Daisy follows an attack on three Thai fishing vessels Sunday. Pirates now hold 15 vessels and 326 crew, according to an Associated Press count.

The Voc Daisy, which had been heading from the United Arab Emirates toward the Suez Canal, was registered with security officials and raised an alarm before the four armed pirates stormed aboard. It was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden about 200 miles southeast of Oman.

The hijacking of the three Thai vessels Sunday was almost 600 miles (965 kilometers) outside the normal operation area for the EU Naval Force. Pirates have expanded their range south and east in response to an increase in patrols by European and American warships off the Somali shore.

Pirates have increased attacks against shipping vessels over the last year in hopes of netting the multi-million dollar ransoms they can earn. Because of increased naval patrols and increased defenses on board commercial vessels, the pirates' success rate has gone down, though the number of successful attacks has stayed about the same year over year.

Associated Press link

 

[The Bread Guy]

Amercan wheels o' justice in U.S. grinding...

US indicts 11 suspected pirates in Norfolk, Va.
Steve Szkotak/AP via Salon.com

Eleven suspected pirates were indicted Friday on U.S charges of piracy and other counts related to attacks on two U.S. naval vessels off the coast of Africa.

The indictment was unsealed an hour after the suspects were led into the federal courthouse in Norfolk under heavy security.

One of the accused pirates had a bandaged head, while another was carried into the court building. The 11 were scheduled for a court appearance Friday afternoon.

In addition to the piracy count, the charges include attacks to plunder a vessel, assault with a dangerous weapon, and use of a firearm during a crime of violence.

Five of the men were captured March 31, after the frigate USS Nicholas exchanged fire with a suspected pirate vessel west of the Seychelles, sinking a skiff and confiscating its mother ship.

The other six were captured after they allegedly began shooting at the amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland on April 10 about 380 miles off Djibouti, a small nation facing Yemen across the mouth of the Red Sea.

The 11 had been held on U.S. ships for weeks off Somalia's pirate-infested coast and nearby regions as officials worked to determine whether and where they could be prosecuted and prepare legal charges against them.

The suspects were taken from the USS Nassau amphibious assault ship Thursday and flown to Virginia on a government plane in the custody of the Justice Department ....

link

 

[CougarKing]

Interesting. In the current civil war between the Western-backed Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the Al-Qaeda-linked Al Shabab, it seems one menace (Al Shabab) is trying to eliminate another menace (the pirates).

It's better if the pirates and Al Shabab just destroy each other so the TFG (along with the African Union Peacekeeping force there called AMISOM) can go back to rebuilding the country.

As reported by the Associated Press:

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Fighters from Somalia's al-Qaida-linked militant group moved into the northern region where Somali pirates operate early Monday, residents said, forcing pirates to flee and raising the specter of an insurgent attempt to close down the piracy trade.

(...)

Somali pirates and insurgents are two separate groups. If al-Shabab militants take control of pirate strongholds, the 300-plus foreign hostages that pirates hold could be in greater danger. Yare said the Chandlers — who are in their 50s — were walking deep into a forest and away from the Islamist militants.

"Al-Shabab militants are chasing us," Yare told The Associated Press by phone.

A spokesman from the militant group could not be reached for comment Monday.

But a witness, businessman Ahmed Salad, said an advance team of al-Shabab militants entered the pirate lair in two vehicles around midnight Sunday after they had routed moderate Islamists from villages nearby. He said the militants withdrew a short while later for points unknown.

(...)

 

[The Bread Guy]

Like everything else that works so smoothly at the UN?  This from Bloomberg:

The United Nations Security Council pressed today for tougher prosecution of pirates operating off the coast of Somalia, adopting a Russian proposal to consider creation of a new court for that purpose.

The council voted 15-0 to ask UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon to report within three months on options for “a regional tribunal or an international tribunal and corresponding imprisonment arrangements.”

Russia circulated the text following Kenya’s decision to stop prosecuting suspected Somali pirates and cancel agreements with several naval powers. Kenya has accords with the European Union, U.S., Britain, Canada, China and Denmark to prosecute brigands captured by them.

Piracy and armed robbery at sea reached a six-year peak in 2009 with Somalia accounting for more than half of the 406 attacks, according to the UN International Maritime Bureau. Somali pirates mounted 217 attacks last year, hijacking 47 ships and taking 867 crew members hostage, the London-based bureau said in January ....

 

[GAP]

Somali pirates board oil tanker; Russian warship en route
Article Link
EU Naval Force says pirates have boarded Liberian-flagged ship with 23 Russian crew onboard

Nairobi, Kenya — The Associated Press Published on Wednesday, May. 05, 2010 5:03AM EDT Last updated on Wednesday, May. 05, 2010 7:15AM EDT

Somali pirates armed with automatic weapons boarded an oil tanker with 23 Russian crew onboard Wednesday, and a Russian warship was rushing to intervene, a European Union Naval spokesman said.

Cmdr. John Harbour said pirates launched an attack on the Liberian-flagged ship, which is named the Moscow University, at dawn. He said the crew managed to evade the pirates for several hours while sending out distress calls. At one point the pirates, who attacked in a small speedboat, returned to their larger mothership before returning to attack again, he said.

The pirates are now onboard the 106,000 ton ship but it is unclear if they are in control of the ship or the 23 Russian crew. The ship is carrying 86,000 tons of crude oil.

A Russian warship is heading to the ship at full speed, said Cmdr. Harbour. He declined to say how long the warship would take to arrive or what action it might take, citing security.

The attack occurred about 800 kilometres east of the Somali coast. The ship was not registered with the Maritime Security Center, said Cmdr. Harbour. The ship's route was from the Red Sea to China, the ship's owner said.

The owner, Novoship, said in a statement that the captain sent a distress call to the Russian anti-submarine warship the Marshal Shaposhnikov before communications were severed. It said the pirates attacked using automatic weapons.

Novoship is a subsidiary of Sovcomflot, which is owned by the Russian government.
More on link

 

[The Bread Guy]

From the UN News Centre:

The remoteness of the Indian Ocean nation of Seychelles has made it a prime target for pirates, and the country is fighting back by setting up a United Nations-supported centre to prosecute piracy.

With naval activity around the Horn of Africa – including Somalia – becoming increasingly secure, pirates are moving south towards Seychelles, attacking ships based in or operating around the archipelago.

The Seychelles’ regional centre will be the second of its kind, the first having been established in Kenya, and it will try piracy suspects apprehended by the European Union Naval Force Somalia – Operation (EU NAVFOR).

The country’s Government has been working with the new joint Counter-Piracy Programme of the EU and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to ensure that its criminal justice system is ready for such trials.

The scheme aims to assist the police, coastguard, prosecutors, courts and prisons in dealing with the challenges posed by piracy cases.

In March, the trial of 11 pirates arrested by Seychelles’ coastguard, with the aid of EU NAVFOR, began, held under a recently-amended provision in the country’s criminal code allowing for piracy prosecution under universal jurisdiction. Professional Somali interpreters, provided by the EU and UNODC, are ensuring that the accused can properly take part in their trial.

Also in March, 11 additional alleged pirates were transferred to Seychelles authorities’ custody after having been captured by the French Navy off the Somali coast.

The EU and UNODC have established a mentorship programme at the only prison in the country where suspected and convicted pirates are being held ....

More from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime here.

 

[GAP]

Russian warship opens fire, takes oil tanker back from pirates
The 23 crewmen are rescued, and Russian media say one pirates is dead and 10 are arrested. The tanker's cargo is worth more than $50 million.
By Jeffrey Fleishman Los Angeles Times Staff Writer May 6, 2010
Article Link

The fortunes of a band of Somali pirates quickly changed Thursday when a Russian warship opened fire on a hijacked oil tanker, freeing the crew and arresting the bandits, who a day earlier had raced across the Indian Ocean to seize a cargo valued at more than $50 million.

The high-seas battle unfolded after 23 crewmen on the tanker Moscow University sent a distress call and hid from the pirates in a sealed rudder compartment. A Russian destroyer closed in and special forces stormed the vessel at dawn, after marauders shot at a surveillance helicopter, according to the anti-piracy European Union Naval Force.

"The Russian warship, knowing the crew was locked down and safe, returned fire on the pirates," said a statement released by the EU force. "Eventually the pirates surrendered and a boarding team from the Marshal Shaposhnikov [warship] arrived onboard the tanker, captured all the pirates and freed the crew. All the crew are safe and well."

» Don't miss a thing. Get breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox.

Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news services reported that one pirate was killed and 10 were arrested.

The rescue operation was stunning, ending an ordeal less than 24 hours after pirates seized the 106,474-ton tanker about 350 miles off the Yemeni Island of Socotra. The vessel, owned by Novorossiysk Shipping Co. and carrying 86,000 tons of crude oil, had left Sudan and was bound for China, catching the attention of pirates who have expanded their hunting territory hundreds of miles from the Yemeni and Somali coasts.

The Marshal Shaposhnikov, an anti-submarine destroyer, was part of a fleet of international warships to protect oil tankers and cargo ships in the vital shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. The anti-piracy effort has prevented a number of attacks. In February, Danish special forces foiled a hijacking of a merchant ship, and earlier this week a Greek warship fired at and arrested seven bandits in a speedboat off Yemen.

The Novorossiysk Shipping Co. credited the tanker's captain and the quick response by the Russian navy:

"Thanks to the skillful and timely action of Captain Yury Tulchinsky, the pirates were unable to take a single hostage or command the ship," said the company. "The personnel of the Marshal Shaposhnikov performed their duties in the best traditions of Russian sailors."

The response by the Marshal Shaposhnikov was reminiscent of the 2009 operation in which U.S. Navy snipers shot and killed three pirates, freeing the captain of the container ship Maersk Alabama.

Pirate attacks have jeopardized stability at the crossroads of the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. Sea bandits have become increasingly brazen, especially since the U.S.-backed Somalia government has been unable to control a country wracked by crime, ethnic conflicts and Islamic insurgencies.
More on link

 

[MARS]

A bit of old news, but some video footage of the dutch assault from 5 April.

video link here

regards,

MARS

 

[The Bread Guy]

Links to statements from the owners and EU NAVFOR Public Affairs Office.

 

[The Bread Guy]

This from the German DPA wire service:

Russia on Friday released 10 pirates arrested earlier in the week during the rescue of a Russian ship hijacked off the coast of Somalia.

The Defence Ministry in Moscow said there were no international legal guidelines for prosecuting the men, reported the news agency Interfax. Furthermore, the nationalities of the pirates, suspected to be Somali, could not be definitively established.

The men were sent off, without their weapons or any navigation equipment, in one of the boats used in the attack ....  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has repeated his call for an international court to try pirates.

More from RIA/Novosti, Reuters and the Associated Press.

 

[CougarKing]

Japan opens up a naval base...in Djibouti???

link

Tags : None
Japanese authorities have confirmed their intention to develop a Japanese naval base in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, already home to large American and French military installations. The base will be Japan’s first overseas since Japan’s defeat in 1945 and the major political and military reforms that followed. The $40 million base is expected to be ready early in 2011 and will provide a permanent port for ships of Japan’s Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF).

The plans for a Japanese base in Djibouti were first announced last July, when Tokyo outlined its intention to build housing facilities and an airstrip for JMSDF Lockheed P-3C Orion surveillance aircraft. The decision followed a request by U.S. authorities for Japan to build facilities that would allow it to take a larger role in security operations in the Gulf of Aden (Kyodo News, July 31, 2009).
Japanese navy commander Keizo Kitagawa of the JMSDF’s Plans and Policy section told reporters "We are deploying here to fight piracy and for our self-defense. Japan is a maritime nation and the increase in piracy in the Gulf of Aden through which 20,000 vessels sail every year is worrying" (AFP, April 23). According to Japanese authorities, 99% of Japanese exports rely on use of the shipping lanes off Somalia (Somaliland Press, April 29; Alshahid, April 29).
Japan sent teams of military experts to Yemen, Oman, Kenya and Djibouti to explore the possibilities of opening a naval base in one of these nations. Djibouti was chosen in April, 2009. Japanese personnel and material supporting the JMSDF deployment off Somalia are currently housed in rented space at the American base at Djibouti’s Camp Lemonnier, a former French Foreign Legion base. French troops in Djibouti are engaged in anti-piracy operations, training French troops for action in Afghanistan and keeping an eye on the volatile Horn of Africa region (Radio France Internationale, April 18).
The largest warships in the JMSDF are Guided Missile Destroyers, Destroyers and Helicopter Destroyers. Japan has been deploying a pair of destroyers on a rotational basis in the Gulf of Aden since last year. The naval deployment includes members of the Special Boarding Unit (SBU), a Hiroshima-based Special Forces unit patterned after the U.K.’s Special Boat Service (SBS).
The creation of a Japanese military base in Africa would have been implausible only a few years ago, as such deployments are in clear violation of Japan’s 1947 “Peace Constitution,” which forbids the maintenance of a Japanese military, the deployment of Japanese military forces overseas and participation in collective military operations, regardless of their purpose. With American encouragement during the Cold War, Japan began a conscious evasion of the Peace Constitution by creating “Self-Defense” Forces rather than a Japanese military. Japanese troops began overseas deployments in the early 1990s with non-combatant peacekeeping operations in Cambodia and Mozambique. After 9/11, new anti-terrorism and anti-piracy laws eased the transition to offshore operations. The JMSDF provided support to American forces in Afghanistan from 2001 to January 2010 and Japanese Ground Forces joined Coalition operations in Iraq in a humanitarian capacity in 2004. Technically, all members of Japan’s Self Defense Forces are classified as civilian civil servants and the naval deployment to the Horn of Africa is being characterized by the government as anti-crime operations rather than military operations.

 

[GAP]

JAPAN OPENS NAVAL BASE IN DJIBOUTI IN DEFIANCE OF PEACE CONSTITUTION
Article Link

apanese authorities have confirmed their intention to develop a Japanese naval base in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, already home to large American and French military installations. The base will be Japan’s first overseas since Japan’s defeat in 1945 and the major political and military reforms that followed. The $40 million base is expected to be ready early in 2011 and will provide a permanent port for ships of Japan’s Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF).

The plans for a Japanese base in Djibouti were first announced last July, when Tokyo outlined its intention to build housing facilities and an airstrip for JMSDF Lockheed P-3C Orion surveillance aircraft. The decision followed a request by U.S. authorities for Japan to build facilities that would allow it to take a larger role in security operations in the Gulf of Aden (Kyodo News, July 31, 2009).

Japanese navy commander Keizo Kitagawa of the JMSDF’s Plans and Policy section told reporters "We are deploying here to fight piracy and for our self-defense. Japan is a maritime nation and the increase in piracy in the Gulf of Aden through which 20,000 vessels sail every year is worrying" (AFP, April 23). According to Japanese authorities, 99% of Japanese exports rely on use of the shipping lanes off Somalia (Somaliland Press, April 29; Alshahid, April 29).

Japan sent teams of military experts to Yemen, Oman, Kenya and Djibouti to explore the possibilities of opening a naval base in one of these nations. Djibouti was chosen in April, 2009. Japanese personnel and material supporting the JMSDF deployment off Somalia are currently housed in rented space at the American base at Djibouti’s Camp Lemonnier, a former French Foreign Legion base. French troops in Djibouti are engaged in anti-piracy operations, training French troops for action in Afghanistan and keeping an eye on the volatile Horn of Africa region (Radio France Internationale, April 18).

The largest warships in the JMSDF are Guided Missile Destroyers, Destroyers and Helicopter Destroyers. Japan has been deploying a pair of destroyers on a rotational basis in the Gulf of Aden since last year. The naval deployment includes members of the Special Boarding Unit (SBU), a Hiroshima-based Special Forces unit patterned after the U.K.’s Special Boat Service (SBS).

The creation of a Japanese military base in Africa would have been implausible only a few years ago, as such deployments are in clear violation of Japan’s 1947 “Peace Constitution,” which forbids the maintenance of a Japanese military, the deployment of Japanese military forces overseas and participation in collective military operations, regardless of their purpose. With American encouragement during the Cold War, Japan began a conscious evasion of the Peace Constitution by creating “Self-Defense” Forces rather than a Japanese military. Japanese troops began overseas deployments in the early 1990s with non-combatant peacekeeping operations in Cambodia and Mozambique. After 9/11, new anti-terrorism and anti-piracy laws eased the transition to offshore operations. The JMSDF provided support to American forces in Afghanistan from 2001 to January 2010 and Japanese Ground Forces joined Coalition operations in Iraq in a humanitarian capacity in 2004. Technically, all members of Japan’s Self Defense Forces are classified as civilian civil servants and the naval deployment to the Horn of Africa is being characterized by the government as anti-crime operations rather than military operations.
end