Update: Vessels Fired Upon/Attempted Boardings

(U) Vessels Fired Upon/Attempted Boardings:

1. (U) INDIAN OCEAN: On 21 April, fishing vessels ADRIA (South Korea-flagged) and TXORI ARGI (Spain-flagged) were involved in a suspected piracy incident near position 00:29S – 048:36E, 240 nm southeast of Mogadishu, Somalia. Pirates approached one of the vessels and fired upon the second vessel as it came to assist the first.

The pirates were likely thwarted due to the use of Best Management Practices and the presence of armed embarked security teams (AESTs) on both fishing vessels. That same day, a Taiwan-flagged fishing vessel, SHIN SHUEN FAR 889, also reported being approached by two skiffs, which departed the area when the AEST showed their weapons. The pirates involved in these incidents might have used a mothership which was seized by armed men on 19 April off the central Somali coast.

On 21 April, EU NAVFOR dispatched its Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft to search the area and identified a suspected mothership. On 23 April, ESPS NAVARRA successfully intercepted and boarded the dhow F/V AL AZHAM which was being used as a pirate mothership. (IMB; EU NAVFOR; UKMTO)