Wednesday March 24 marked the first anniversary of NATO ships in the Gulf of Aden to fight piracy. Five NATO ships arrived in the Gulf of Aden on the day as part of NATO's counter piracy mission, Operation Allied Protector. The aim was to disrupt and deter the piracy that was rife in the Gulf of Aden at that time.
"This last year has been a busy one for NATO ships in the region," Rear Admiral Hank Ort, (NLD N) Chief of Staff at Northwood, said.
"We have, together with our maritime partners, actively disrupted and prevented pirate attacks on innocent vessels. Since the NATO mission began, there has been a significant drop in successful piracy incidents in the Gulf of Aden. Whilst I am pleased with what we have achieved, we cannot be complacent and must remain vigilant."
Ninety percent of global trade by volume is carried by sea with 50 percent of the world's containers passing through the Indian Ocean. The Gulf of Aden sees over 22,000 ships per year transiting through on their way to countries all over the globe making it an important route for trade.
In March 2009, NATO's Standing Maritime Group arrived in the Gulf of Aden to conduct a counter piracy mission, Operation Allied Protector. Earlier this month, NATO nations agreed to extend Operation Ocean Shield until the end of 2012.
They immediately made a difference with one of their ships, USS 'Halyburton' disrupting a pirate attack against the yacht 'Grandezza' in the Gulf of Aden.
Piracy continued but the presence of NATO warships made it much more difficult for the pirates to achieve their goal of seizing ships between July and the end of December 2009, there were no successful hijacks in the Gulf of Aden.
In August 2009, NATO enhanced their counter piracy mission, with a new operation, Ocean Shield. While at-sea counter-piracy operations continued to be the focus, a new element of regional-state counter-piracy capacity building was developed which aims to assist regional states, upon their request, in developing their own ability to deal with piracy activities.
