Anti-piracy forces boosted to forestall surge

The United Nations-mandated naval task force fighting Somali piracy will have extra resources off the country's east coast in readiness for an expected upsurge in attacks as the Indian Ocean monsoon comes to an end.

The first three months this year saw 61 pirate attacks on vessels off Somalia, the highest number yet.

Many observers expect new attacks when conditions in the Indian Ocean are safe again for the small motor boats pirates use to approach their targets.

Speaking from the USS Anzio in the Gulf of Aden, Rear Admiral Scott Sanders of the US Navy, who took over as task force comman­der last month, and Captain Keith Blount of the Royal Navy, said there were military assets in the Indian Ocean off Somalia - an area known as the Somali basin - and in the Gulf of Aden ready to move to the Somali basin if needed.

"There are warships; there are aircraft," Capt Blount said. "It would be fair to say that we can surge a number of assets from the Gulf of Aden to the Somali basin and back, depending on the threats."

It nevertheless remained appropriate to concentrate on the Gulf of Aden, he said, which sees 33,000 ship passages annually - four times the number through the Somali basin.

Rear Adml Sanders could not confirm reports that US unmanned reconnaissance aircraft would be deployed to the Seychelles to monitor the Somali basin.

The officers nevertheless pointed out that the Gulf of Aden has seen little piracy recently, despite calm seas. The area is intensively patrolled by international navies, and merchant ships are more wary than elsewhere. The autonomous government of Puntland, bordering the area, has also set up its own coastguard.

"The weather here in the Gulf of Aden is entirely suitable for skiffs, dhows and other small craft and yet for the last month we have not seen much pirate activity," Capt Blount said. "You have to look for other reasons why they're not attacking."

? Somali pirates freed a Greek ship on Mondayafter receiving a $2m (€1.4m, £1.2m) ransom, paid by helicopter, for the vessel and its 21 Filipino crew, Reuters reports. The Irene E.M. bulk carrier was seized in April in the Gulf of Aden.

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