Australian navy in Somali piracy fightback

HMAS Sydney and HMAS Ballarat responded to a distress signal from the 115,485 dwt tanker, Dubai Princess, under attack from pirates using rocket-propelled grenades as part of efforts to board the vessel.

The Defence Department said the incident occurred in international waters about 90 nautical miles south of Yemen at 1800 hrs Australian time.

Pirates were also threatening a second vessel, MSC Stella.

The head of the Defence Force, air chief marshal Angus Houston, said a Sea Hawk helicopter was dispatched from the Sydney to assess the situation.

Ballarat was "instrumental" in assisting MSC Stella, the Defence chief said.

The pirates fled when the frigates moved into the area.

The frigates escorted both vessels, and six others in the area, to safety.

No injuries were reported.

Sydney and Ballarat have now resumed their passage through the gulf and will continue with their Northern Trident deployment program.

Lloyd's List reports that a helicopter from Canadian frigate Winnipeg had also thwarted an attack on Malta-flagged Sea Pride, a 38,211 dwt bulk carrier.

The incident occurred just days after European commissioner for maritime affairs Joe Borg raised the piracy threat as it related to Australia.

"With 99% of Australia's exports carried by sea, piracy is of significant concern to you too," Mr Borg said in a speech at the Australian National University last week.

"Australia has contributed to successfully addressing the problem of piracy in the Malacca Straits, in particular through regional co-operation efforts.

"These issues are among the subjects being discussed with my Australian colleagues and they are proving very instructive."

Mr Borg later told the Australian of the need for this country and the European Union to co-operate to combat the threat.

"We are interested to work more closely with Australia in order to fight international piracy, particularly if these piracy activities continue to extend further eastwards," he was quoted as saying after having met home affairs minister Bob Debus.

"As these instances of piracy come close towards you [Australia], it becomes more urgent to take action."

Additional reporting: Rob McKay

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