Pirates from Somalia have struck in the Somali basin.

Pirates hijacked a Spanish trawler with a 36-member crew Friday in the Indian Ocean, an official said.

 

The boat, called the Alakrana, sent out distress signals advising of a pirate attack and since then the company has not been able to communicate with Alakrana, said Echebastar Fleet, the company that owns the ship.

 

Two planes from Luxembourg, taking part in an EU anti-piracy flotilla, flew over the ship and saw armed people aboard, said Pilar Unzalu, the Basque region's fisheries and agriculture minister. The Alakrana is based in the Basque port of Bermeo.

 

The ship was 415 miles (670 kilometers) from the Seychelles islands, Unzalu said. Company executives were headed for the Spanish Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, Echebastar Fleet said.

 

It was the second attack in less than a month against the Alakrana. On Sept. 4, while operating in waters off the Seychelles islands, the vessel dodged an attack by taking evasive action.

ONI issued an alert this morning warning that attacks may continue over the next 24-48 hours, wind and weather conditions are favorable for more pirate activity in that area. The success of pirate activity in the Gulf of Aden will force tactical adaptation from pirates, and the fishing regions south of Somalia off the Kenyan coast are a likely tactical adjustment.

 

David Axe has had some great materials over the last few days on the efforts in the Gulf of Aden, including articles in the Washington Times and World Politics Review.

 

View the full article

There has been a strong polemic in Spain last months between the Basque autonomous government and the Central government, asking the Basque Government for armed soldiers (Tercio de Armada/Spanish Marines) in the fishing ships in the Indian Ocean, following the practice of the French, due to the complications and limitations that we have the spaniards to use firearms. This incident will be therefore more problematic than it shows off.

It has based a P-3 Orion between Djibouti (Summer) and Mombasa (Kenya, in Winter) to protect the fishing ships, but his use is very limited. Rear admiral Teodoro López Calderón said publicly in the recent summer course of El Escorial, at which I was present, and said it fully of pride, that from January until July, 2009 the P-3 Orion had flewed 9 missions and a whole of 50 hours (which, Harpoon players as we're, gives us an idea of his scarce real coverage). It is necessary to remember also that similar coverage can be provided by only one german P-3 Orion Alemán and only one French Atlantique, both based in Djibouti. From July 2009 a french E-3F is also present in Djibouti.

Some links (in spanish):

http://www.ucm.es/info/cv/subweb/prog/programas/71104.html

http://www.ucm.es/info/cv/cursos2009_pdf/71104.pdf

http://www.abc.es/20091002/nacional-nacion...0910021020.html (a today press article saying the ship was 800 miles out of the protected zone, but I doubt it can be so far away, and some mention to the spanish Orion flying over the ship).