Piracy Reports 31 October to 7 November 2013

INDIAN OCEAN: On 6 November, a merchant vessel reported a pirate attack near position 05:40 S – 046:59 E, approximately 450 nm east-southeast of Mombasa, Kenya. The ship reported being attacked by five heavily armed pirates in one skiff, with the pirates reportedly exchanging gunfire with the ship’s embarked security team. The alarm was raised as the attack started, and the ship increased speed, activated the fire pumps, and started evasive maneuvers. The pirates reportedly moved away from the ship after the embarked security team returned gunfire.

INDIAN OCEAN: On 5 November, FGS NIEDERSACHSEN interdicted a pirate attack off Somalia. The PAG reportedly consisted of one whaler and skiff. There
were ten suspected pirates sighted in the boats along with numerous large fuel barrels. Upon closer surveillance, personnel in the boats were reportedly seen throwing two long ladders overboard before heading back to the beach.

INDONESIA: On 4 November, an anchored chemical tanker experienced an attempted boarding near position 03:54 N – 098:46 E, Belawan Anchorage. Duty crew spotted one boat with robbers attempting to board the tanker via anchor chain but alert crew thwarted the boarding. A second boat was hidden near the propeller and the crew could not chase them away with fire hoses. The propeller was turned on resulting in the robbers moving away. The robbers were spotted with some stolen hull anodes in their boat. Port Control informed of the incident.

INDIA: On 2 November, an anchored container ship experienced a boarding near position 21:40 N – 088:01 E, Sagar Anchorage. 15 armed robbers boarded the ship and were spotted by ship’s duty officer, who raised the alarm. The robbers were stealing ship’s stores and jumped overboard when the alarm was raised.

Source: United States Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence.

Russian and German vessels conduct PASSEX in the Gulf of Finland

The ‘Boikiy’ (Бойкий) is a Steregushchy-class corvette (Project 20380) commissioned into the Russian Navy in May 2013. The ‘Karlsruhe’ is a Bremen-class frigate commissioned into the Bundesmarine (now the Deutsche Marine) in 1982. A ‘PASSEX’ is a passing exercise that tests communication between two navies.

Russian, German Warships to Train Jointly in Baltic Sea

MOSCOW, October 7 (RIA Novosti) – Russian-German naval exercises, codenamed PASSEX, will be held on Monday in the Gulf of Finland, the press service of Russia’s Western Military District said.

Russian corvette Boiky.

The exercises will involve Russia’s newest Baltic Fleet warship, the Project 20380 Boiky corvette and Germany’s Karlsruhe frigate.

«During the joint exercise in the Gulf of Finland the ships will test communication and train joint maneuvers,” the press service said in a statement.

The naval maneuvers will be the final part of the German frigate’s visit to St. Petersburg, which began on October 2.

German frigate Karlsruhe.

http://en.ria.ru/military_news/20131007/183979456/Russian-German-Warships-to-Train-Jointly-in-Baltic-Sea.html