BY SYLIVESTER DOMASA
The Russian anti-submarine destroyer ‘Marshal Shaposhnikov’ has docked at the Dar es Salaam Port at the start of a five-day courtesy visit to the country.
According to a media communiqué availed yesterday, Marshal Shaposhnikov landed at the Dar es Salaam port on Sunday where among other things it will offer counter training to native marine forces in fighting against piracy along the Indian Ocean coast.
The statement explained that the training is due to the reduced but ongoing pirate attacks off the Somalia’s coast that the international community seeks to put an end to and to which effect a security agreement was reached by the UN Security Council who collectively approved a resolution that gives permission to the states to send warships to the maritime belt of Somalia.
In accordance with the resolution, the leading maritime powers would devote significant forces to patrol the shipping routes through areas of pirates’ activities, it added.
Atalanta, an EU marine operation against puiracy off the Somali coast and is linked to the Maritime Security Centre – Horn of Africa (MSC-HOA), an initiative established by the European Union Naval Force in response shipping threats in the waters off the Gulf of Aden and the Horn of Africa.
It is in this bigger picture of things that the Russian vessel has docked here and the Russian Navy Pacific Fleet task unit will be carrying out the training. The fleet is made up of among others, a large anti-submarine destroyer ‘Marshal Shaposhnikov’, rescue tug boat ‘Alatau’ and seagoing tanker ‘Irkut’ conducts anti-piracy mission and provides shipping security.
The detachment left Vladivostok (home port) on October 2. The vessel has visited ports of India, Thailand, South Korea, Djibouti, Iran, and Seychelles took part in joint exercise INDRA-2012 with Indian Navy.
