Chinese fishing ship of alleged pirates checked in front of Somalia

Chinese fishing ship of alleged pirates checked in front of Somalia

an Chinese fishing ship off the coast of Somalias is under the control of alleged pirates, as an antipiracy unit of the European Union announced on Thursday.

Details of the attack

The ship, with up to 18 crew members, was taken over by the suspicious pirates, some of which were armed with AK-47 and machine guns, according to the European Union Naval Force Operation Atalanta. The incident was classified as a robbery at sea, and it was reported that no member of the crew was violated.

reaction of the international community

The Marine unit reacted to an alarm by the police in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in Northeast Somalia, according to which a Chinese ship was presumably kidnapped off the coast. So far, China has not responded to the situation that takes place in a key region for its marine activities abroad to protect the expanded interests of the country in Africa and the Middle East.

China's marine anti-piracy efforts

The Navy People's Liberation Army has been carrying out anti-piracy in the Gulf of Aden along the north coast of Somalias since 2008. These operations are part of a fundamental strategy to secure trade routes in view of the widespread piracy. China has been running his only military base abroad in Dschibuti since 2017, which is also located on the Horn of Africa.

Current developments in piracy

The latest incident falls into a phase in which piracy in the region rises again, which is near important international shipping routes through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. This return of the piracy is responded to interpreted, which are understood as a retaliation for Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. These attacks, which began at the end of last year and accepted in the spring, affected global trade and weakened the attention of international naval units in the region, according to the observers.

statistics on piracy

The EU surgery Atalanta already recorded 19 attacks by suspicious pirates-the highest number since 2012. According to the data of the troops that operate in the waters around the horn of Africa and the western Indian Ocean, this is still far from the 212 attacks in 2011.

The decline in piracy is generally attributed to the coordinated international efforts supported by the UN, which also includes NATO, EU and the constant members of the UN Security Council, which gained importance from 2008.

China's role in international security operations

The anti-piracy force of the Chinese Navy began in December 2008 with the implementation of accompanying missions in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalias after there were a number of attacks on Chinese ships. At this point, the beginning of this task force was a step in China's efforts to use its growing international influence and economic strength to solve shared international problems.

Since then, the Chinese marine has carried out more than 40 accompanying missions for international and Chinese ships in the region, but did not connect to a multinational coalition led by the USA that was supposed to protect ships in the Red Sea against the Houthi attacks.

cooperation with Somalia and China

The EU surgery Atalanta said that it was in "constant contact" with the Somali and Chinese authorities regarding the latest incident. CNN asked the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense to comment.