Bartamaha (Nairobi):- Two Thai navy ships with 351 sailors and 20 special warfare troops on board have set sail for the Gulf of Aden to take part in the hunt for pirates off the coast of Somalia.

The mission marks the first time Thailand has sent forces overseas to protect its own interest.

The HTMS Pattani and HTMS Similan left yesterday with two helicopters lashed to the decks from Chuk Samet port at Chon Buri’s Sattahip naval base to join a 28-country effort to police the shipping lanes off the Somali coast, which has become a piracy hotbed.

“The key mission of this 98-day operation is to protect Thai cargo ships and fishing vessels in those waters,” said Adm Supakorn Buranadilok, Commander of the Royal Thai Navy Fleet.

The navy expects up to 60 Thai ships to pass through the Gulf of Aden during the course of the operation.

The navy’s SEALs unit will be part of the fleet involved in the mission.

The budget for the mission has been set at 270 million baht.

The ships are expected to take 17 days to reach the Gulf of Aden on a journey covering 4,573 nautical miles.

The ships are expected to return about Dec 12.

Political chaos and civil war in Somalia have allowed piracy to flourish off the country’s 3,100km coastline.

Somali pirates were involved in more than half of the 406 reported pirate attacks worldwide last year.

They mounted 217 attacks in 2009, hijacking 47 ships and taking 867 crew members hostage with ransoms believed to total US$50 million (1.6 billion baht).

A number of Thai ships have been hijacked by Somali pirates over the past five years.

According to the Thai Shipowners’ Association, there were 32 attacks on Thai ships last year.

In the latest incident which occurred in April, three fishing boats, the MV Pran Talay 11, 12 and 14, were hijacked, and are still being held by pirates. Efforts are under way to negotiate their release.

Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwon said pirate attacks, particularly in Somalia, must be addressed urgently as they are a major issue of international concern.

The Thai government is proud to contribute to the mission, he said.

On Aug 16, the cabinet gave the navy the green light to send its ships to join the anti-piracy effort.

Navy personnel will receive a daily allowance of 2,100 baht each for the mission.

Rear Adm Chaiyos Sunthornnak, commander of the 2nd Fleet tasked with the anti-piracy mission, said the HTMS Similan is a logistics support vessel built in China in 1996, while the HTMS Pattani is an offshore patrol vessel built in China in 2005.

Rear Adm Suppachai Jaiyen, commander of the navy’s special maritime warfare unit, said specially trained soldiers from the navy’s underwater demolition team (UDT), better known as the SEALs (Sea-Air-Land), will be part of the navy’s anti-piracy mission.

Pornpoj Ngamviriyatham, manager of the Thai Overseas Fisheries Association, applauded the government’s decision to send the vessels to protect Thai boats.

The pirates’ operating base has now extended to up to 1,931km from coast, and is not under the control of any one state and thus difficult to police. Somalia has been ravaged by 18 years of civil war and is without a functioning central government or a working justice system since the removal of former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Illegal fishing and exploitation of marine resources off the coast of Somalia has also been blamed for giving rise to piracy.

Meanwhile, foreign vessels are accused of dumping toxic waste in waters off Somalia, jeopardising the livelihood of Somali people and prompting them to take action against foreign vessels.

Rear Adm Chaiyos said the Somali people had previously tried to protect their marine resources from foreign exploitation by demanding fees from fishing trawlers and cargo ships that might dump toxic waste.

They later turned to piracy and hijacked the ships for ransom.

Somalia is divided into five semi-autonomous regions of Somaliland, Puntland, Northland, Galmudug and Maakhir. Somaliland has declared itself a separate independent state but has not been internationally recognised.

Fighting is still rife in Maakhir between forces of the caretaker government and rebel groups.

More than 1,000 pirates are reportedly based in Puntland, divided into more than 10 different groups.

They are equipped with AK-47s, and rocket-propelled grenades.

Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon offers words of encouragement to an officer in the anti-piracy unit. Gen Prawit is followed by navy chief Adm Kamthorn Pumhiran, left. Naval personnel in full combat gear wait to board the two navy ships which left Sattahip naval base in Chon Buri yesterday to join international anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia.

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Source:- Bangkok Post.

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