Navy in piracy drama

In a speech at the Australian National University, Mr Borg said a maritime-dependent economy such as Australia should see piracy as a “significant concern”.
Days later, Australian navy forces found themselves at the centre of the piracy fight in the Gulf of Aden.
A pair of passing Australian navy frigates – HMAS Sydney and HMAS Ballarat – prevented the hijack of two commercial ships in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday.
The frigates 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 also threatened 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.

Australian navy in pirate stoush

 
The frigates escorted both vessels, and six others in the area, to safety.
No injuries were reported.
Sydney and Ballarat had resumed their passage through the gulf on Tuesday and were to 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.
Mr Borg later told The Australian of the need for this country and the European Union to cooperate 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.”