Navy Deters Pirates in Gulf of Aden

18 May 2009

Royal Australian Navy frigates, HMAS Sydney and HMAS Ballarat, have come to the aid of two merchant vessels, under attack by pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

The incident occurred at around 6pm Eastern Australian Time on Sunday, 17 May 2009. HMA Ships Ballarat and Sydney were in international waters, approximately 170km south of Yemen, when they received a distress signal from the merchant vessel MV Dubai Princess.

The distress signal stated that pirates were firing rocket propelled grenades and attempting to board the vessels by force.

Acting in accordance with their obligations under international maritime law, the Navy ships altered course to assist MV Dubai Princess. Concurrently a second vessel in the vicinity, MV MSC Stella, reported being harassed by small vessels.

The reported pirate threat subsided once the Navy frigates asserted their presence.

HMAS Ballarat escorted the two merchant vessels to safety, as well as six others that subsequently entered the area once the threat had eased. HMAS Sydney remained in the area to report the situation to a Task Force 151 ship assigned to the counter-piracy mission.

The Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, said the measured response by the two passing Australian ships provided security to the merchant vessels and stabilised the situation.

Sydney and Ballarat were transiting through the Gulf of Aden as part of Northern Trident 2009 – a six-month deployment, taking the ships around the globe.

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Audio Grabs

The Commanding Officer HMAS Sydney responds to questions about this incident.