Netherlands merchant marine appreciates counter piracy operation

While participating in counter piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, the crew of Palomino 16, a CH-124 Sea King and crew deployed with HMCS Winnipeg, took photos of a Dutch merchant marine ship, the Maersk Kalmar.

At the same time the crew of the Dutch ship took photos of Palomino 16. Later, the two exchanged their photos of each other.

In an e-mail accompanying the images, the First Officer of the Maersk Kalmar explained how reassuring the ships of the Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 were as the merchant marine ship transited the pirate-infested waters.

“We made three transits through the area during my time on board the Kalmar. It is a tense time while in the area, although we are not so much worried about actual boarding attempts by pirates in view of the speed [and] freeboard that we have,” wrote First Officer Jos Hoogland.

“What we seriously do worry about, however, is the possibility of the use of fire-arms by pirates and the damage that can be done by such an attack to the vessel and crew primarily and to the cargo.  At present, the big containerships are luckily not (yet) a serious target for pirates and we can avoid close quarter situations with suspect boats with relative ease.

“In view of [all] this, it is a comforting thought that many naval forces are deployed to the area and a well-organized way of [monitoring transit] is in place.

“Once more I would like to say that we, as merchant mariners in general, really appreciate all the efforts taken by the various naval forces and provide us all with some peace of mind while in the area!”

HMCS Winnipeg arrived home in Esquimalt, B.C. on Friday August 21 following a six and a half month deployment. After leaving in February, the ship spent two months as part of a NATO squadron fighting piracy in the Gulf of Aden and took part in two major international military exercises.

Through April and May, the Canadian crew took part in the NATO-led counter-piracy mission dubbed Operation Allied Protector. Winnipeg, along with warships from the United States, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, interdicted pirates operating in international waters off the Horn of Africa.  In addition to maintaining a patrol presence with other coalition ships, Winnipeg escorted numerous merchant vessels and ensured the safe delivery of over 5,000 tons of life-saving humanitarian assistance to Somalia in support of the United Nation’s World Food Programme.

Over the course of her deployment, HMCS Winnipeg sailed more than 90,000 kilometres and had stops in Japan, South Korea, Pakistan as well as various ports in Africa and Australia.

With a CH-124 Sea King on board Navy ships such as HMCS Winnipeg, the Air Force works side-by-side assisting the Canadian Forces in deployments and exercises throughout the year.