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By Alisha
Ryu
Nairobi, September 5, 2009 – The United States is planning to deploy
unmanned aerial vehicles in the Seychelles islands in the coming weeks
to combat piracy. The use of land-based drones is a new approach to
deter ship hijackings in the region.
The spokesman for the U.S. military's Africa Command, Vince Crawley,
says several Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles will be in the Seychelles
by late October or November. He says they will be used to conduct
intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions throughout the
Indian Ocean region.
"We have people going in individually for very short trips right now. We
plan to start sending some of the teams that will assist in the
September-October time frame. And then it would take a month to begin
the flights," said Crawley. "It is widely recognized that western Indian
Ocean piracy is extremely disruptive to international trade and this is
simply a U.S. contribution to the international effort against piracy."
Reapers are designed for long-endurance, high-altitude surveillance,
capable of staying in the air for 30 hours and flying at speeds of more
than 440 kilometers an hour. They can also carry weapons and ordinance,
but African Command says the drones being deployed in the Seychelles
will not be armed.
The U.S. Navy has long used ship-based unmanned aerial vehicles in
counter-piracy missions. But the UAVs in the Seychelles will be housed
at the international airport in the capital Mahe. Dozens of American
military and civilian personnel will also be based at the airport to
oversee the Navy-led mission for the next several months.
Crawley says the government in the Seychelles requested assistance from
the United States earlier this year after Somali pirates began extending
their operations more than 1000 kilometers away from Somali shores.
Since March, two Seychelles-flagged vessels have been hijacked and
several others attacked in waters near the Seychelles and the Comoros
Islands.
In addition to the Reaper UAVs, the U.S. military is also considering
basing Navy P-3 Orion patrol aircraft in the Seychelles for a limited
time. Like the Reaper, the Orion can survey a large region and help
deter attacks.
Maritime officials say the vastness of the Indian Ocean and the lack of
naval patrols in the area are tempting some pirates to expand their
operations further east. The Indian Ocean is considered a safer hunting
ground than the Gulf of Aden, a narrow shipping lane to the north that
is heavily patrolled by warships from more than a dozen countries.
For nearly a year, the international armada has been successful in
keeping many ships from being hijacked. But it has done little to deter
pirates from targeting ships.
In the first half of 2009, nearly 150 vessels were attacked by pirates
in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia, compared to less than
30 in the same period a year ago. More than 30 vessels have been taken,
with ransom demands now averaging about $2 million for the release of
the ship and its crew.
Rough weather conditions have helped keep the number of pirate attacks
in the region low for the past few months. But as the weather improves,
sailors, ship owners, and maritime officials say they are bracing for
another surge of pirate activity.
Source: VOA, Sept 02, 2009
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