EU naval force arrests 9 pirate in Somali coast

The European Union (EU) anti- piracy taskforce said Wednesday its naval force have arrested nine suspected pirates off the coast of Somalia in the latest efforts to end the menace in the nation. The EU Naval Force said in a statement that the suspected pirates were seized on Tuesday by Dutch EU naval force frigate De Ruyter, approximately 200 nautical miles north east of Eyl off the coast of Somalia. The statement said the Dutch frigate deployed with the EU anti- piracy taskforce was tasked on Tuesday morning to find a suspected pirate group which was reported by a Panama flagged merchant vessel off the coast of Somalia. "The helicopter of De Ruyter located two high powered skiffs. As the helicopter approached, material was thrown overboard and the two skiffs split up in an attempt to escape," the statement said. "The first skiff was stopped by assets of the Dutch frigate. The second skiff was located and stopped with support of the helicopter from the EU Naval Force flagship ESPS Mendez Nunez," it added. The latest incident comes as global maritime watchdog said piracy off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden reduced drastically in 2012, as only 75 incidents including 14 hijackings were attributed to Somali pirates who continue to threaten an extended geographical region. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said that only five attacks were reported in the last quarter of 2012, adding that the number of Somali hijackings was halved from 28 in 2011 to 14 last year. According to the report, only two crew have been killed, 250 taken hostage and one injured. The East and South Coast of Somalia, including the Arabian Sea, recorded 49 attacks including nine attacks in the Gulf of Oman region, with 13 attacks having been reported in the Gulf of Aden and the Southern Red Sea. The EU naval force said the nine suspected pirates are being held on board HNLMS De Ruyter for further investigation and evidence collection in order to fully assess the possibility of prosecution. The two attack skiffs were seized. Somali pirates are dangerous and are prepared to fire their automatic weapons and RPG at vessels in order to stop them. They have also used "mother vessels" to launch attacks at great distances from the coast. These "mother vessels" are usually hijacked dhows or ocean going fishing vessels. In the past Somali pirates have also tried to use hijacked merchant vessels. Many past attacks have taken place more than 1,000 nautical miles from the Somali coast towards Indian west and south coast in the Indian Ocean.