Keeping the seas safe: Canadian navy warship shifts its focus to counter-terrorism but piracy continues to plague the waters off Yemen and Somalia
By ALLISON CROSS, Canwest News ServiceMarch 22, 2010 4:05 PM

When a Canadian navy warship reached the MV Kota Wajar in December, the container ship from Singapore and its crew had just been released after being held captive by Somali pirates for 21/2 months.

A $4-million (U.S.) ransom had been paid to the captors only hours earlier and, being the closest warship in the area, HMCS Fredericton sailed toward the Somali Basin in the Indian Ocean to offer the Kota Wajar some help.

The Fredericton's boarding party, a team dispatched from the frigate to investigate other vessels, gave the hijacked crew fresh water and food, as well as medical attention.
The Somali captors had been using the Kota Wajar as a mother ship, from which they orchestrated and carried out other hijackings.

Although the Fredericton has since switched from its counter-piracy mission to focus on counter-terrorism in the same region, acts of piracy continue to plague the waters surrounding Yemen and Somalia.

"We've seen a resurgence in piracy over the last few years, the last couple in particular," said the Fredericton's captain, Cmdr. Steve Waddell.

Would-be pirates target the Gulf of Aden, which contains the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) - the suggested transit route for legitimate vessels carrying goods to Europe and North America.

About 900 kilometres long and 300 kilometres wide, the IRTC is closer to Yemen than to Somalia, because the former coastline is generally safer for merchant vessels.
Nonetheless, the Gulf of Aden has managed to earn the nickname "pirate alley." More...