THE US Maritime Administration (MarAd) has warned of an increase in pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden region from October to early December with the end of the monsoons, reports American Shipper.
Favourable weather allows open boat activity off the Horn of Africa and into the Indian Ocean, as shown by recent attacks off Kenya and Tanzania, in the southern Red Sea and around Seychelles and Maldives, said the MarAd statement.
"The change in season means every precaution must be taken to defend against pirate attacks," said Maritime Administrator David Matsuda. "Our agency remains committed to helping US crewmembers be vigilant and well-prepared for pirate attacks."
MarAd said it`s continuing to work with other federal agencies to reduce the vulnerability of US ships and crews, including issuing advisories to US ship operators based on latest intelligence, working with industry to improve implementation of best practices to deter piracy, distributing anti-piracy training videos for crews, conducting voluntary security vulnerability assessments with Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) on US ships.