UN backs Indian Navy’s efforts to fight sea piracy

by Sanjay Jha | November 20, 2008 at 01:25 am

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After Indian Navy's heroic act against Somalian Pirates, It has received praise from the UN for destroying a “mother vessel” engaged in piracy in the Gulf of Aden a day after pirates forced a hijacked oil supertanker to enter Somalia’s perilous waters.

The incident took place 285 nautical miles (528 km) southwest of Oman’s port of Salalah on Tuesday. Indian warship INS Tabar spotted a ship which was similar to one of the vessels that was suspected of coordinating piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

It's action in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday night has opened up the possibility of more nations actively patrolling the troubled waters of Gulf of Aden where maximum highjacking of ship has taken place reports.

Condemning the acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea wherever they occur, Ban said that he is working closely with Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG), the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the European Union and others to ensure that international efforts to combat piracy are better co-ordinated.

"He welcomes the EU's decision to authorise the deployment of a maritime force off the coast of Somalia, and the efforts of individual Member States to send vessels, which will strengthen security in the area," his spokesperson said.

Later this week, IMO Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos is expected to brief the Security Council on the latest developments in the waters of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean off the Horn of Africa.