Press Releases

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.

The previously reported sighting of a yacht by the helicopter of the EU NAVFOR Spanish ship Canarias has been confirmed as the missing British yacht the Lynn Rival. EU NAVFOR is cooperating with UK ships in the area and the British MOD and FCO have been made aware of the sighting.

Early this morning a Thailand flagged fishing vessel (Thai Union 3) was under attack by two skiffs in the Position about 200 nautical miles north of the Seychelles and 650 miles off the Somali coast.

In the afternoon of October 27th 2009, 350 nautical miles east of Mogadishu, Somalia a French Fishing Vessel was attacked by pirates in two attack skiffs. The pirates opened fire on the Fishing Vessel.

Late afternoon, Friday October 23 EU NAVFOR Netherlands warship HNLMS Evertsen rescued 43 persons adrift in the Gulf of Aden.

The Hijacked Bulk Carrier the DE XIN HAI is confirmed to have arrived off the coast of Somalia and is now in the vicinity of Hobyo. It is not yet known if the pirates have contacted the owners and made their demands known.

On the early morning of October 22nd 2009, 400 nautical miles east of Mombasa, Kenya, pirates attempted to hijack MV Jolly Rosso. Almost at the same time, MV Al Khaliq, a Panama flagged bulk carrier reported being under attack 180 nautical miles west of the Seychelles.