THE FIGHT AGAINST PIRACY IN THE GULF OF ADEN

It has been close to two months since Rear-Admiral (RADM) Bernard Miranda took over the command of Combined Task Force 151 (CTF 151) in mid-January this year.

Together with a multinational team, the 48 year-old Republic of Singapore Navy officer commands six naval vessels from various countries and oversees an area approximately 1.1 million square miles in size off the coast of Somalia.

This Singapore-led anti-piracy task force was recently called into action on 22 Feb when Tanzanian ship MV Barakaale 1 came under attack while transiting through the Gulf of Aden. An SH-60B Seahawk helicopter from the CTF 151 flagship, the USS Farragut, swiftly came to its aid after the Master of MV Barakaale radioed for help when the suspected pirates tried to board the ship.

Intercepting the attack, the helicopter from CTF 151 gave chase as the pirates attempted to escape. After issuing repeated warnings, the helicopter forced the skiff to a halt by firing warning shots across the bow of the skiff. A boarding team from the USS Farragut subsequently arrived and arrested the eight crew members found on board the skiff.

Similarly, the TCS Gemlik, a Turkish warship assigned to CTF 151, was able to successfully fend off another pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden.

A suspicious skiff with fuel barrels and a ladder was seen approaching the Panama-flagged vessel MV Apl Finland, which raised the alarm to alert other ships in the region. Responding promptly to the distress call, the Gemlik closed in to investigate.

During the warship's pursuit, seven suspected pirates were spotted throwing various items overboard, including the ladder. Stopped after a series of manoeuvres and warnings, the skiff was boarded by a team from Gemlik. As no piracy-related material was found on board the skiff, it was eventually released with instructions to return to the Somali Coast.

These two incidents have been the highlight of RADM's Miranda's mission to date. In an interview with cyberpioneer, he noted that the "watch team of CTF 151 and all the ships that are under command of CTF 151 are performing very well".

"CTF 151 ships from the US, Korea, Pakistan and Turkey have done exceedingly well in intervening and disrupting piracy attacks. There is close co-operation between the ships and aircraft of all the navies both within CTF 151, our partner Task Forces from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the European Union (EU), as well as ships on national taskings," RADM Miranda added.

Commenting on the key challenge that he faces during this deployment, RADM Miranda said: "The main challenge is resource management. On a daily basis, we have to closely watch the force flow to ensure that our area of operations is well-covered."

This means keeping a careful eye on a myriad of details, such as "work-rest cycles, port visits and the readiness of individual ships to balance the deployment of ships and aircraft efficiently and effectively".

Shouldering such heavy responsibilities, however, is not new to RADM Miranda, who has participated in all of the Singapore Armed Force's five sea deployments to the North Arabian Gulf, as well as its first mission to the Gulf of Aden.

"Being experienced in previous missions, my confidence level is high, but I'm always mindful that the mission is a dynamic one, and that I must be able to make sound and clear decisions in a matter of seconds."

"Coming into this mission, I hoped to achieve better engagement with our partner nations who are deployed independently, enhance cooperation with the task forces from NATO and EU... and build better awareness through the improvement of processes, procedures and technology," he added.

"We have made excellent progress in all areas, and continue to work hard at it. At the end of the day, we want to keep the area of operations safe for merchant shipping and we are doing well thus far."

This is the first time a Singaporean is commander of a multinational peace support mission since the SAF's Brigadier-General Tan Huck Gim's appointment as Force commander of the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor in 2002.

20 Jan 10 - Singapore Takes Over Command of Multinational Counter-Piracy Task Force

20 Jan 10 - News Video: Singapore Takes Over Command of Multinational Counter-Piracy Task Force

20 Jan 10 - Singapore helms anti-piracy task force in the Gulf of Aden [cyberpioneer]

23 Feb 10 - Singapore-led CTF 151 captures eight suspected pirates [cyberpioneer]

01 Apr 10 - Singapore-led CTF 151 intercepts pirate attack [cyberpioneer]