Press Releases

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.

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.