Yemeni Dhow Master: We Haven’t Seen Pirates in Two Years

Spanish EU Naval Force frigate ESPS Numancia’s RHIB approaches a dhow to gather information, April 11, 2013. Photo: EUNAVFOR

The master of a Yemeni dhow operating along the coast of Somalia and Yemen in the Gulf of Aden told an EUNAVFOR team that he had not seen any pirate activity in the region in the last two years.

On Thursday morning, crews from the Spanish frigate ESPS Numancia, deployed with the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta, performed a friendly approach on the dhow to help promote understanding about EUNAVFOR´s mission and to gather information from locals about the pattern of life in the area.

The dhow’s master invited the small team to go aboard and meet the crew. The master said that they had not seen any recent pirate activity while sailing along the Somali and Yemeni coastlines in the Gulf of Aden. The master seemed to be aware of EUNAVFOR´s counter piracy activity and mentioned that he had never been visited by a Spanish warship before.

The members of the ship’s team passed out informational leaflets about EUNAVFOR’s mission and also provided the dhow’s crew with some food and bottles of water, before returning to Numancia.

EUNAVFOR noted that this type of interaction with regional fishermen is important, as it helps promote awareness of EU NAVFOR´s counter piracy operation and the protection that the warships provide. It also helps to increase understanding of the local maritime community and obtain first hand information about possible piracy activities in the area.

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