Incident Alert – Armed Security Team Deter Multiple Suspicious Craft in the Gulf of Aden

Incident Details

UKMTO have reported that a merchant vessel was approached by 5 small craft in the Gulf of Aden. One craft came within 3 cables (c.600m) of the merchant vessel, resulting in the Armed Security Team (AST) firing warning shorts at the craft. The vessel departed after shots were fired. The vessel and crew are reported safe

Fig1. Location of Incident

Comment. This is the first report of an approach on a commercial vessel for several weeks, it is unclear at this point whether the small craft involved in this incident are linked to any criminal or conflict related activity.

Assessment. There is no clear indication of what the small craft were doing at the time of the incident. Although it cannot be ruled out, it is unlikely that a Pirate Action Group (PAG) would be operating as far west in the Gulf of Aden. It is possible that the vessels could be linked to Houthi activity but the lack of a detailed description of the boats makes it difficult to assess the small crafts intent. It is also possible that this is a Pattern of Life encounter with local fishermen. What is clear is the actions of the AST had a positive effect, firing warning shots may have prevented the situation from developing into an attack or hijack scenario. We recommend ship operators remain vigilant and implement BMP 5 counter-piracy measures including embarking an Armed Security Team, while transiting the region. bmp5-low_res.pdf