

The piracy threat around the Gulf of Aden has been in the news for quite some time, and continues to make headlines with every next incident that occurs.
Besides the dozens of pirate encounters, there are also many cases where ship owners and maritime service providers, or their officers and crew, do all they can to prevent hijackings.
Preventive measures include alternative routes thousands of miles longer, just to stay clear from pirate activity, or careful planning and consultation to ensure escorts and other safety precautions.
For ship delivery company Redwise of the Netherlands, staying safe has become a daily concern. In recent delivery contracts, as many as five newly built tugs had to go the thousands of extra miles along alternative routes. The 32-metre harbour tug 'RT Rob' had to cross two oceans, on its 22,530km delivery voyage from Niigata, Japan, via Honolulu and the Panama Canal, to Bremerhaven, Germany.
For the delivery of the split hopper dredger 'Dravo Costa Blanca', from Huelva, Spain tot Fujairah, UAE, Redwise obtained an escort through the Gulf of Aden by Dutch navy frigate HMS 'De Zeven Provinciën' participating in the NATO, Operation Allied Protector.
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