Oh Buoy: The Atlas Mooring,
Deployed in 2008
Picture: Courtesy of The Agulhas & Somali Current Large
Marine Ecosystems Project
Seychelles will keep research ship under armed
escort - after team gives up on SA Navy
South African scientists are about to embark on a
daring sea voyage into pirate-infested waters - without
protection from the country's navy.
The team of 25 South Africans and two Americans aboard
the national research vessel Algoa is due to leave
tomorrow from eastern Madagascar to rescue high-tech
buoys adrift in the dangerous waters off the Horn of
Africa.
Despite mounting pressure on the South African military
to assist in the waters off Somalia, the navy has
steered clear of the international flotilla protecting
merchant ships in the pirate waters.
The South African ship will be under armed protection
and aerial surveillance from the Seychelles Coast Guard.
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries'
head of scientific research, Dr Johann Augustyn, told
the Sunday Times the team had opted for foreign naval
assistance after initial approaches to the SA Navy
proved too much.
"I did approach the navy ... but it seemed to be such an
involved process to get their assistance that I decided
to try other means."
At least 26 foreign vessels and 448 hostages, including
an elderly British couple, are being held hostage by
Somali pirates, according to the latest update by
international human rights organisation Ecoterra.
On Friday, the BBC quoted the EU naval force as
reporting the most southerly piracy attack yet, just
435km east of the Algoa's departure point at Toamasina,
Madagascar.
The Algoa left Port Elizabeth this week and is due back
in November. The ship will track down and repair two
US-owned buoys floating near the Seychelles, and deploy
new equipment to gather scientific data.
Mission co-ordinator Tommy Bornman said: "We've tried to
service the moorings (buoys) for two years now and had
to cancel the cruises each time, even trying a variety
of research ships from Norway and France." The team's
usual research vessel, the United Nations-flagged
Fridtjof Nansen, is barred from going into the piracy
zone due to a United Nations embargo on voyages there.
Bornman said a full risk assessment was done before the
20-day mission was approved.
The voyage was authorised by the Department of Foreign
Affairs and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries - which manages South Africa's research fleet
- and co-ordinated by scientists from the Agulhas and
Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems Project.
"Obviously there is a risk of meeting up with pirates
but while we are within the piracy high-risk zone we
will be under armed Seychelles Coast Guard protection as
well as aerial surveillance from manned planes and
unmanned drones," Bornman said.
Andrew Mwangura, who runs the piracy-monitoring
Seafarers Assistance Programme, this week said pirate
attacks were moving further south due to the increased
presence of international warships patrolling off
Somalia: "The pirates are using mother ships to move
further towards Tanzania, Maldives, Seychelles,
Madagascar and the Arabian sea," Mwangura said.
The SA Navy and Department of Defence declined to
comment, as did the Department of Foreign Affairs,
citing "matters or security".
With acknowledgements to Bobby Jordan and Sunday Times.
It's so sad.
The government purchased R30 billion (2010 Rands) worth of the most advanced naval vessels in the world, only to never use them in real maritime operations.
Although these vessels are not designed nor are optimal for anti-piracy, the anti-piracy task was a minor mission when they were planned acquired.
I remember listening to Helmoed Heitman giving the opening address at a Project Sitron Patrol Corvette design workshop organised by Armscor. This was in about 1993/4. This was the first time I knew of the extent of the piracy problem on the African continent, especially the Horn of Africa. And it's got a whole lot worse in 2010. Yet we have had operational patrol corvettes aka the KKK Kamerman-Klass Korvette for about 5 years.
The SAN's MEKO 200AS frigates are ideal to escort civilian vessels and minor combatants. They just needed some new armament, which they now have in the form of Reutech Solutions's Super (Sea) Rogue Remotely-Operated 20 mm Cannon and Observation System, plus a clear set of Rules of Engagement [locate, halt, board, arrest peacefully or we'll test this Sea Rogue with intent]. Of course a 20 second burst of the 600 round per minute 35 mm double barrelled Dual Purpose Gun could cause a greater effect. Yes, it even works - against surface targets - sometimes.
Even right now certain European navies have submarines off the coast of Somalia undertaking video surveillance of the pirates bases.
Not cheap, but it works.
Less expensive than the ransom fees.
Yet the South African Government refuses point blank to send its navy to assist the dozens of other countries there, let alone vessels under its own flag.
We will not even have to pay because the US Government will pay our costs.
It proves the complete poverty of the justification behind the Arms Deal.
It's so sad.