Space Industry and Business News  
NATO to send ships within two weeks to combat Somalia pirates

by Staff Writers
Budapest (AFP) Oct 9, 2008
NATO defence ministers agreed Thursday to send seven war ships this month to help combat piracy off Somalia, as attacks on vessels in Horn of Africa waters spiral, an alliance spokesman said.

"Ministers agreed that NATO should play a role. NATO will have its standing maritime naval group, which is composed of seven ships, in the region within two weeks," said the spokesman, James Appathurai.

He said the vessels, including a number of frigates, would help escort UN World Food Programme (WFP) food shipments and patrol the largely-lawless waters off Somalia to help prevent piracy.

"Piracy is a serious problem for shipping in that area, it is also an immediate threat to the lives of people in Somalia. Substantially more than 40 percent of the population depends on the food aid being delivered by ship," he added.

The WFP ships 30,000-35,000 tonnes of aid into Somalia each month. Its vessels are currently under Canadian escort, but that service is due to come to an end on October 20.

Appathurai said that NATO would coordinate closely with the European Union and the US-led anti-terror naval operation in the area to ensure there would be no doubling up.

"There is no competition here and plenty of work to go around," he said.

He did not say which countries would take part, but up to nine nations are set to participate in an EU naval operation: Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and possibly Britain.

At least 32 foreign ships have been attacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden this year, more than twice the figure for all of 2007, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed has urged the international community to combat rising piracy off the lawless nation's waters.

Piracy is rife and well organised in the region where Somalia's northeastern tip juts into the Indian Ocean, preying on a key maritime route leading to the Suez Canal through which an estimated 30 percent of the world's oil transits.

The pirates operate high-powered speedboats and are heavily armed, sometimes holding ships seized off Somalia's largely lawless coast for weeks until they are released for large ransoms paid by governments or owners.

Related Links
21st Century Pirates



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


New Somalia piracy resolution adopted at UN
United Nations (AFP) Oct 7, 2008
The UN Security Council on Tuesday urged states to commit naval and air assets to the fight against rampant piracy off lawless Somalia, with France saying this meant that force can be used against the pirates.







  • Google adds computer games to online advertising kingdom
  • Web traffic jam as people search for financial news
  • Apple to unveil new laptop computers
  • Gadget sales thrive during economic storm: CEA

  • New ASTRA 1M Satellite To Be Launched On 31 October
  • Ariane 5 Is Readied For A Dual-Payload Mission
  • India To Have New Launchpad For Proposed Manned Mission
  • Arianespace Flight 186 Set For End Of November

  • Researchers Scientists Perform High Altitude Experiments
  • Airbus expecting 'large' China order by early 2009: CEO
  • Airbus globalises production with China plant
  • Safer Skies For The Flying Public

  • Raytheon Reaches Milestone On Critical Communications Capability
  • Raytheon Awarded First Phase Of Integrated Battle Command System
  • Airman Provides Air Support For Army Battlespace
  • The Modern Airborne Military Communications Market

  • MSV Awarded Patents For Next-Gen Satellite-Terrestrial Comms Network
  • Youngsters Flying High After Winning Top UK Space Competition
  • Theory Explains Mysterious Nature Of Glass
  • Coating may mean sleeker planes

  • Berndt Feuerbacher New President Of IAU
  • Orbital Appoints Frank Culbertson And Mark Pieczynski To Management
  • Chris Smith Named Director Of Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory
  • AsiaSat Appoints New General Manager China

  • Maps Shed Light On CO2's Global Nature
  • 2008 Ozone Hole Larger Than Last Year
  • Smog Blog For Central America And Caribbean Debuts
  • Infoterra Enhances Capability With Acquisition Of Imass

  • Spatially Manage And Optimize Fleet Operations With ArcLogistics 9.3
  • SiRFlinkIII Combo Radio IC To Drive Next-Gen Mobile Convergence Devices
  • RealEstate.com Launches RealEstate.com Mobile
  • TomTom Fuel Price Service Now Available At Retail

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement