SOUTH AFRICAN NAVY TO PATROL MOZAMBIQUE CHANNEL

The South African Navy announced that it is preparing a force to patrol the Mozambique Channel to cope with the threat of attacks on vessels by Somali pirates. That force will comprise a frigate and a logistical support vessel that will remain in the Mozambique Channel for over a month. On board the frigate will be members of the South African Navy’s elite force and military helicopters, which will fly over the region on what are described as routine missions. The sending of the force, which will be in the waters of the Mozambique Channel within the next two weeks, comes in response to the attacks perpetrated by Somali pirates along the East African coast, culminating in the hijacking of a Mozambican fishing vessel, the “Vega 5”, on 27 December.South African military experts fear that the pirates are now regarding the Mozambique Channel as a gold mine, where they can launch their operations without facing any problem. Meanwhile the European Union Mission against Piracy in the Indian Ocean (ATALANTA) announced on Friday that pirates had freed a Taiwanese fishing boat, the “FV TAI YUAN 227”, which had been seized in May 2010, with 28 crew members on board, when it was about 700 nautical miles northwest of the Seychelles. ATALANTA claimed that among the crew members of the Taiwanese vessel released were several Mozambicans, along with Chinese, Vietnamese and Kenyan citizens. This, however, came as a surprise to the Mozambican authorities. Fisheries Minister Victor Borges said he knew nothing about any Mozambicans on board that vessel. The government had received no communication about them of any kind from any quarter.As for the “Vega 5”, with its crew of 19 Mozambicans, three Indonesians and two Spaniards, the last that was heard of it was that it was in Somali waters. Borges said the government had been unable to contact the crew, and no communication has been received from the pirates either.