Somali Pirates: Ship Under Attack

 
UPDATE from the NATO Shipping Center:

The attack on the merchant vessel 20 Sept 2011, in position 0447S 04435E, has been averted through the use of recommended self-protection measures as detailed in BMP4.

The crew is safe.

Vessels are still advised to exercise extreme caution when navigating within 100 nautical miles of the position given in this report and maintain maximum CPA with any ship acting suspiciously.

You can get your own pdf copy of BMP4 here. End UPDATE.

An alert from NATO Shipping Center:

Alert 218 / 2011 20/09/2011 10:00 0447S 04435E Attacked
At 0734 UTC / 20 SEP 2011 / a merchant vessel is currently under attack by 2 skiffs in position 0447S 04435E.

Vessels are advised to exercise extreme caution when navigating within 100 nautical miles of the position given in this report and maintain maximum CPA with any ship acting suspiciously.

More from NATO:

At 0734Z today, an attack against a merchant vessel by 2 skiffs in position 04 47S 044 35E took place. Details can be found under Alert Details at Alert 218. It is believed that the group in this area may be operating from a Jelbut dhow. The high level of activity off the Somali/Kenya Border indicates this as an area of great concern to vessels, and as improved weather conditions allow, increased piracy activity is expected.

At 0734Z today, an attack against a merchant vessel by 2 skiffs in position 04 47S 044 35E took place. The weather in the north Somali Basin remains less favourable however, in the next few weeks the weather is expected to improve.