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Manama,
Bahrain, August 29, 2009 – The Gulf of Aden is safer for shipping than
it was a year ago but piracy is likely to increase as the weather
improves, a US naval commander said on Sunday.
"The maritime environment is much more peaceful because of the
international cooperation," Admiral Gary Roughead, chief of naval
operations for the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet, told a press
conference.
"The situation is better than it was about a year ago.
"The situation in the Gulf of Aden may witness a surge in piracy ... I
think it will pick up when the weather improves.
"I think we might witness a change in their tactics to attacks that
achieve their goals," he said without elaborating, adding that he had
"great confidence" in the multinational counter-piracy operation in the
key shipping lane.
Early April this year saw an unprecedented flurry of hijackings, but
less favourable weather recently has led to a relative lull in pirate
attacks.
More than 30,000 vessels a year transit the pirate-infested Gulf of
Aden, heading to and from the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
So far this year there have been 114 attempted attacks on merchant
vessels in the region, 29 of them successful, according to the US navy.
Source: AFP, August 23, 2009
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