13/02/09 (B485-B) Le journal de la Flibuste. Les pirates repartent à l’assaut, mais ils rentrent bredouilles … et certains se font arrêter par les marines étrangères qui croisent dans le Golfe d’Aden. (4 articles en Français et en Anglais)

_____________________________ 4 – Le Matin (Ch)

Somalie: trois bateaux de pirates interceptés par les forces russes

Un navire de guerre russe a pris le contrôle de trois bateaux de pirates au large des côtes somaliennes. Dix pirates ont été capturés. Ceux-ci attaquent régulièrement des navires marchands dans le golfe d’Aden.

Un navire de guerre russe a pris le contrôle de trois bateaux de pirates au large des côtes somaliennes. Dix pirates ont été capturés. Ceux-ci attaquent régulièrement des navires marchands dans le golfe d’Aden.

Des navires de combat de plusieurs pays, des Etats-Unis, de Grande-Bretagne, d’Inde et de Russie notamment, assurent désormais des patrouilles le long du littoral de la Somalie afin d’exercer un effet dissuasif sur les pirates.

_____________________________ 3 – L’Express avec AFP

La marine russe a capturé 10 pirates somaliens

Un navire à propulsion nucléaire russe a capturé 10 pirates somaliens près des côtes de la Somalie, a déclaré vendredi à l’AFP un porte-parole de la marine, Igor Dygalo.

« Le navire Piotr Veliki (Pierre le Grand) a capturé trois petits bateaux à bord desquels se trouvaient dix pirates, citoyens de Somalie, qui ont été arrêtés », a indiqué M. Dygalo à l’AFP.

Des fusils automatiques, lance-grenades, mines anti-personnels, un appareil de navigation par satellite, 500 grammes de drogue, un sac de sucre et un sac de riz leur ont été confisqués, selon la même source.

« Ils se trouvaient sous l’emprise de la drogue », a ajouté le porte-parole.

L’incident est survenu au sud-est de l’île de Socotra, située dans le golfe d’Aden entre le Yémen et la Somalie, selon la même source.

Les procureurs militaires de la flotte du Nord mènent une enquête à bord du navire russe. Le sort des détenus « sera décidé en coopération avec le ministère de la Justice et le ministère des Affaires étrangères russes », selon la marine.

_____________________________ 2 – Press TV (Iran) (En Anglais)

Un navire de guerre espagnol déjoue une attaque de pirates contre un navire marchand. // Pirate attack off Somalia foiled

A Spanish warship, as part of EU Operation Atlanta in Somalia’s pirate-infested waters, has foiled an attack by pirates on a merchant ship.

The Spanish Defense Ministry official confirming the news said that the frigate Victoria first received an alert from a Cypriot-registered bulk carrier, the Jolbos, in the Gulf of Aden Thursday afternoon that it was under attack from pirates. It dispatched an attack helicopter to the area, which fired warning shots at the pirate vessel causing them to flee.

The pirates then approached another merchant ship, the UAE-registered Dubai, but were again scared off by warning shots from the helicopter, the statement said.

Spain last month deployed the Victoria, which has 210 military personnel on board, to the waters off Somalia as part of the EU operation against maritime piracy.

The Somali pirates have attacked more than 130 merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden last year, an increase of more than 200 percent on 2007, according to the International Maritime Bureau, which tracks piracy and shipping security issues.

More than 150 suspected pirates were arrested by naval patrols in the Gulf in 2008.

Heavily armed pirates operate high-powered speedboats and sometimes hold ships for weeks before releasing them for large ransoms paid by governments or ship owners.

_________________________ 1 – Shabelle (En Anglais) avec AFP

Des pirates somaliens lourdement armés ont tenté d’attaquer six navires de commerce de différentes nationalités. Ils ont tous réussi à échapper aux attaques. // Somali pirates attack six ships: watchdog

Heavily armed Somali pirates attacked six ships, including British, Indian and Singapore-managed vessels, earlier this week but all managed to escape, a global maritime watchdog said Friday.

« In the past two days, pirates have been actively attacking vessels with intent to hijack, » Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur, said in a statement.

« It appears that favourable weather conditions in the area and the high number of hijacked vessel that have been released recently may have prompted the pirates to actively seek for new targets, » he added.

But the ships — managed by Indian, British, Greek, Singapore and Philippine companies and one unknown — managed to escape from the pirates.

Choong said the strong presence of naval warships in strategic locations had prevented successful hijackings in recent weeks.

« The number of successful hijackings has been reduced due to naval activities, » he told AFP.

Choong urged ships to maintain 24-hour visual and radar watches to prevent hijacks.

In one attack on Thursday in the Gulf of Aden, Choong said Somali pirates in a speed boat opened fire on a Indian-managed ship.

« The master contacted naval warships. The pirate’s boat came close to the vessel but aborted the attempt due to evasive actions taken by the vessel, » he said.

In another dramatic attack, pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) at a Singapore ship in the Gulf of Aden.

« The ship’s master reported that pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades at the vessel. A military helicopter responded to its distress call, » he said.

Choong said six pirates attacked a Philippine ship on Wednesday off Somalia.

« Six pirates armed with RPGs and guns in a speed boat chased and fired their RPG at the bulk carrier. The vessel took evasive manoeuvres and escaped from the pirates, » he said.

Choong said since January 2009, there had been 22 attacks, with seven vessels and 123 seamen being held by Somali pirates.

Japanese warships are expected to soon join a growing fleet of foreign navies patrolling what have become the world’s most dangerous waters, with more than 130 pirate attacks in 2008 alone.

According to experts, a slightly lower rate of successful pirate attacks since the start of 2009 is due to a combination of weather conditions and increased navy surveillance.