Basque tuna vessel Alakrana bering hijacked in 2009 in the south of Somalia. (Photo: Stockfile/FIS)

Spanish tuna fleet requests mission against piracy extension in Indian Ocean

SPAIN
Wednesday, July 26, 2017, 22:30 (GMT + 9)

Through the Ministry of Defense, the organizations representing the Spanish tuna fleet, OPAGAC and ANABAC, along with the shipowners’ association CEPESCA, are exercising pressure for the European Union to extend the Atalanta operation against piracy in the waters of the Indian Ocean beyond 2018.

The shipowners argue that boarding attempts have increased this year, with "notorious" hijacking such as the case of the Panamanian oil tanker Aris 13, which occurred a few months ago in the same waters where the Basque tuna vessel Alakrana was hijacked in 2009.

The tuna fleet considers that these incidents reveal that "the pirates are back in action and that they have interpreted that the security measures have relaxed", reason why they ask for the mission to be strengthened.

CEPESCA general secretary Javier Garat acknowledges that there has been a significant decline in attacks during the last five years but argues that "the danger remains because piracy itself is latent and waiting to wake up at any time".

"For this reason, we have to continue strengthening and seeking measures to counteract its harmful effects," he emphasized.

OPAGAC director Julio Morón and ANABAC managing director Juan Pablo Rodríguez Sahagún thanked the "support of the armed forces to the Spanish fishing sector in the framework of Atalanta operation and their willingness to defend its continuity in the EU" beyond December 2017.

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