SADC defence chiefs to talk maritime security next week

The chiefs of the armed forces of the Southern African Development Community will be meeting next week in South Africa to discuss a maritime safety strategy for the regional bloc in light of the increased probability of piracy and other crime at sea in its territorial and adjacent waters. 

“The South African government will work with all SADC countries to fight piracy, Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Lindiwe Sisulu said yesterday at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on piracy and trans-border crime. “ This is our obligation to ensure smooth movement of goods in the SADC waters. We continue to work with all SADC countries and institutions to address piracy,” Sisulu said in Pretoria. 

 

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SAS Isandlwana making heavy weather in South Atlantic rescue

The South African Navy Valour-class frigate, SAS Isandlwana, is encountering heavy weather – rain and strong wind – in the South Atlantic. The ship is headed for Tristan da Cunha to assist and rescue 11 seriously-injured Taiwanese sailors landed there earlier this week after an explosion caused by an ammonia gas leak aboard the fishing vessel Lai Ching. 

The South African Maritime Safety Authority's (SAMSA) Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre asked the South African National Defence Force to conduct the rescue operation after the explosion last week Friday. The Isandlwana set sail for the island, a rocky British possession crowned with a South African weather station, on Monday.

Cabinet: Piracy strategy approved?

Cabinet has seemingly approved the South African Navy's maritime security strategy, although the wording in a statement announcing the move is ambiguous. The Joint Operations Division of the South African National Defence Force deployed the SAS Mendi to Mozambique earlier this year, in what the defence ministry has described as an information gathering exercise.

Government spokesman Jimmy Manyi says Cabinet yesterday “approved that the South African Defence Force [sic] should fine-tune its strategy to protect our waters from piracy. Being a littoral country, South Africa needs to have a balanced naval capability to effectively respond to maritime security threats affecting South Africa,” he said. “Cabinet noted the incursion of maritime crime into our waters, which might affect our trade routes through the seas.”

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Mendi on patrol off Mozambique

The Valour-class frigate SAS Mendi remains on patrol off the coast of Mozambique as part of Operation Hopper, the South African National Defence Force's Southern African Development Community law-enforcement-at-sea effort. 

Chief of the Navy, Vice Admiral Johannes Mudimu, says the patrol is on “instruction of government.” He was speaking to the media ahead of defence minister Lindiwe Sisulu's budget vote on Wednesday. “Currently the ship is doing very well, patrolling Mozambican waters,” he said without adding any details. 

The Mendi as well as South African Air Force aircraft of various types have been seen at and offshore of Pemba in northern Mozambique since late February, but government has been coy on the detail. It is understood the Mendi is carrying a contingent of Special Forces and Maritime Reaction Squadron (MRS) commandos to conduct boarding operations. 

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SA to join counter-piracy fight

Cabinet has tasked Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Lindiwe Sisulu with developing a strategy to address the threat of piracy in Southern African waters. Sisulu told a media briefing his morning the Valour-class frigate SAS Mendi was already off Mozambique informally collecting information on piracy and cooperating with authorities there “to ensure maritime security in Southern African waters. 

Government spokesman Jimmy Manyi at a post-Cabinet media briefing earlier said the executive had “noted the increasing threat of piracy in South African waters and agreed to explore initiatives aimed at assisting Somalia to counter some of the root causes of piracy.

Republic of South Africa dispatched first ship to fight piracy

Republic of South Africa sent the first warship to counter piracy in the Mozambique Channel, reported broadcasting corporation SABC on Feb 13. 

Frigate Mendi will join other 5 frigates and 18 smaller warships in the anti-piracy campaign. 

In Dec 2010 Somali pirates failed to capture two vessels in the Mozambique Channel which was their southernmost assault. 

According to International Maritime Bureau, Somali pirates currently hold 31 vessels and 700 hostages.

Mendi testing LRAD?

The Department of Defence remains mum on the deployment of the Valour-class frigate SAS Mendi to Durban for operational training in reported anticipation of an anti-pirate patrol in the Mozambique Channel. Sources in the city say the ship spent the day at sea yesterday, conducting training and tests. 

Sources elsewhere say the ship has been fitted with a Long Range Acoustic Device. The Armscor Bulletin System shows a device was acquired “for evaluation” from LRAD Corporation of San Diego in the US at a cost of R202 778.63 in September last year. 

The wikipedia explains the LRAD is a crowd control and hailing device developed by LRAD Corporation. According to the manufacturer's specifications, the device has a mass of 20kg and a diameter of 83cm. It can emit sound in a 30° beam at high frequency. The maximum usable design range is aid to be 300 metres, where the warning tone (measured) is less than 90dB.