Norway Willing to Help Fight Piracy

31 May 2011

Maputo — Norway’s State Secretary in the Foreign Ministry, Erik Lahnstein, announced on Monday in Maputo the interest of his country in patrolling the coast of Mozambique to help fight piracy.

Speaking at a workshop on “Piracy in the Indian Ocean” organized by the Norwegian Embassy, Lahnstein said his country intends to support the states of the East African coast, victims of piracy, in fighting this problem.

“I have visited countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Seychelles and Mauritius all of whom have problems related with piracy”, he said. “Norway wants to help these African countries in combating piracy, as we know that it may cause catastrophic effects for the economy of their countries, so we will patrol the entire Indian Ocean”, said Lahnstein.

According to Lahnstein, Norway has been supporting Mozambique in combating crime and piracy through a trust fund of 30 million Norwegian crowns (about 5.6 million US dollars) allocated to the United Nations for this purpose.

Lahnstein said that, sometime between September and December, a maritime station will be set up in an east African country yet to be defined (but which could well be Mozambique) that will act as a base for sea and air patrols, scouring the Indian ocean for signs of pirate activity. Thus as from about October, Norwegian air force planes are likely to be patrolling the Mozambican coast.

“We haven’t yet decided in which country we should place these resources, but since Mozambique is one of the countries that are on the pirates’ route, and is committed to fighting against this phenomenon, it is probably here that patrol planes will be stationed”, said the Norwegian official, cited in Tuesday’s issue of the independent newsheet “Mediafax”.

The workshop was intended to examine the measures and practices that are being taken at global, regional and national levels to combat piracy and to assess the measures taken by other nations to address this problem.

The southernmost attacks by Somali pirate gangs have taken place in Mozambican waters. On 27 December, pirates seized the Mozambican fishing vessel the “Vega 5”, with a crew of 19 Mozambicans, three Indonesians and two Spaniards.

The pirates took the ship to Somalia, turned it into a pirate “mother ship”, and used it in attacks against merchant shipping in the Arabian Sea. An Indian anti-pirate patrol engaged the “Vega 5” in a gun battle on 12 March, overwhelming the pirates and setting free 13 of the original crew – 12 Mozambicans and one Indonesian. The other seven Mozambican and two Indonesians are missing at sea, presumed drowned.

The two Spaniards were released in May after the pirates were paid what was described in the Spanish media as “a multi-million dollar ransom”.

AllAfrica – All the Time