Counter-Piracy First for Toowoomba
11 September 2009
HMAS Toowoomba will be the first Royal Australian Navy ship to join the US-led Combined Task Force combating piracy off the Horn of Africa.
The Australian warship HMAS Toowoomba will patrol the waters of the Gulf of Aden, the Somalia Basin and the Horn of Africa - a new mission for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) operating in the Middle East.
Chief of Joint Operations Command, Lieutenant General Mark Evans, said HMAS Toowoomba's involvement in the operation was an important contribution towards countering piracy.
"As an ANZAC class frigate, HMAS Toowoomba will provide a major deterrent presence. Other tasks will include escorting merchant shipping in the maritime corridors of the Gulf of Aden, as well as tracking and reporting on any piracy situations," Lieutenant-General Evans said.
"The ship's crew have trained for these taskings and I have no doubt they will excel in this important operation."
The RAN counter-piracy activities are conducted according to the International Law of the Sea and support and safeguard merchant vessels and other legitimate maritime traffic underway in the region
The Commanding Officer of HMAS Toowoomba, CMDR Ivan Ingham, said he and his crew were eager to provide support and assistance in providing security to the merchant vessels in the region.
"HMAS Toowoomba is looking forward to contributing to the important task of thwarting piracy and assisting Seafarers to pass safely through this hazardous area," CMDR Ingham said.
The ADF's involvement in counter-piracy will help protect Australian and international maritime trade and is a positive contribution to global maritime security supporting Resolutions 1846 and 1851, which call on states to take an active role in the fight against piracy off the coast of Somalia.
Two RAN ships came to the aid of a merchant vessel under attack from pirates earlier this year as they passed through the Horn of Africa. These ships were not officially part of the international task force but were fulfilling their obligation under the International Law of the Sea.
