On 8 November, following detection by EU NAVFOR warships and aircraft working in close cooperation in the Somali Basin, the Yemen registered dhow, AL JABAL, which had been stolen for use as a pirate mother-ship, was stopped by the FGS KOELN. A group of 19 Somali men were onboard and surrendered to the boarding team; two Yemeni crew members were released.
The dhow had been previously detected in the area of a number of failed pirate attacks and tracked to a position where an unopposed boarding could be carried out. Regrettably, without sufficient evidence to prove piracy and the reluctance of the two crew members to testify against their captors, the 19 men were returned to Somalia. The dhow, with a crew of German sailors onboard, has sailed towards the port of Al Mukalla on the Yemen coast where it will be handed-over to the Yemen Coastguard for return to its owners and for the two crew members to be reunited with their families.
EU NAVFOR conducts counter-piracy in the Indian Ocean and is responsible for the protection of World Food Program ships carrying humanitarian aid for the people of Somalia and the logistic support vessels of the African Union troops conducting Peace Support Operations in Somalia. Additionally, EU NAVFOR monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia.
[mappress] Source: eunavfor, November 13, 2011