Seychelles Coast Guard | |
---|---|
Active | 1993 |
Countries | Seychelles |
Type | Coast guard |
Role | Coastal defence, maritime law |
Engagements | Anti-piracy measures in Somalia Operation Prosperity Guardian |
The Seychelles Coast Guard (SCG) is a branch of the Seychelles People's Defence Force created in 1993. [1] It is a maritime, military, multi-mission service. They acquired responsibility for search and rescue for vessel incidents as well as environmental protection from the Seychelles Port Authority, formerly known as the Port and Marine Services Division.
Although Seychelles is a small country, it is located off the Horn of Africa, strategically close to the operation of notorious pirates. Sri Lanka, China, United Arab Emirates [2] [3] and India [4] [5] have made strategic donations of patrol vessels to the Seychelles.
Through the Seychelles Coast Guard's employment of her small fleet, Seychelles has been able to arrest, try, and convict many pirates. On April 20, 2011, the Seychellois patrol boats La Fleche and Andromache engaged Somali pirates in combat for over an hour and a half before recapturing the Seychellois fishing vessel Gloria which had been taken by the pirates two days earlier. [6] In 2013 the UAE paper The National reported that Seychelles was imprisoning more than 100 convicted pirates at the time. [7]
In May 2011, the SCG helped to protect the privacy of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their honeymoon on the North Island. At the end of their stay, the couple invited several members of the Coast Guard ashore to personally thank them for their efforts. [8]
In 2023 the country is involved in Operation Prosperity Guardian.
Patrol ships are named after local fishing banks and natural features. [9]
Name | Quantity | Image | Length | Notes | Origin | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saya De Malha | – | 41 m (134 ft 6 in) | SCG's first auxiliary vessel | Portugal | [10] | |
Thorpe | – | 15 m (49 ft 3 in) | Wave Rider-class; Cummins engine, 42 knots (78 km/h; 48 mph) | Sri Lanka | [11] [12] [13] | |
African | – | |||||
Etoile | – | 39 m (127 ft 11 in) | Shanghai-class II; Built especially as per Seychelles specifications. Equipped with a 6.5-metre speed boat | China | [14] [15] | |
La Fleche | – | 30 m (98 ft 5 in) | Rodman Group, Spain built | UAE | [16] [17] | |
Le Vigilant | – | UAE | [16] [17] | |||
– | 3 | 7 m (23 ft 0 in) | Rigid hull inflatables | UAE | [16] [17] | |
Fortune | – | 14.3 m (46 ft 11 in) | Saw service with Royal National Lifeboat Institution | United Kingdom | [18] | |
Zoroaster | – | 50 m (164 ft 1 in) | 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph) | India | [9] [19] | |
Hermes | – | 27.5 m (90 ft 3 in) | L&T-class fast interceptor craft (ex C-405) | India | [20] | |
Constant | – | 46 m (150 ft 11 in) | Trinkat-class; 320-ton vessel, 56–60 km/h (35–37 mph) speeds; SDB Mk 5 patrol vessel | India | [5] | |
Topaz | – | 48 m (157 ft 6 in) | Trinkat-class; Medium refit in 2017 | India | [21] [22] |
The Seychelles People's Defence Force is the national military of Seychelles. It consists of a number of distinct branches: the Infantry Unit, Coast Guard, Air Force and a Presidential Protection Unit.
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Piracy in the Strait of Malacca has long been a threat to ship owners and the mariners who ply the 900 km-long sea lane. In recent years, coordinated patrols by Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore along with increased security on vessels have sparked a sharp downturn in piracy.
The Maldivian Coast Guard is the naval or maritime arm of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF). Because the Maldives does not have a navy, the MNDF Coast Guard functions as the armed maritime force of the nation with a charter to contribute to national defence and by and large to respond to issues related to the maritime security of the nation. Therefore, the Coast Guard is documented as the custodian of the Maldives Maritime Domain. Maritime security is a constituent ingredient of the national security in a maritime nation such as the Maldives and its significance is best understood when one perceives the island or the archipelagic nature of the country.
Piracy off the coast of Somalia occurs in the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel, and Somali Sea, in Somali territorial waters and other surrounding places and has a long troubled history with different perspectives from different communities. It was initially a threat to international fishing vessels during the early 2000s, only to rapidly escalate and expand to international shipping during the War in Somalia (2006–2009).
Operation Atalanta, formally European Union Naval ForceSomalia, is an ongoing counter-piracy military operation at sea off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean, that is the first naval operation conducted by the European Union (EU), in support of United Nations resolutions 1814, 1816, 1838, and 1846 adopted in 2008 by the United Nations Security Council. Since 29 March 2019, the operational headquarters is located at Naval Station Rota in Spain, having moved from London as a result of the British withdrawal from the EU.
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The action of 30 March 2010 was a naval battle involving a patrol boat of the Seychelles Coast Guard and two groups of Somali pirate vessels. The encounter resulted in the freeing of twenty-seven hostages held by the pirates.
L&T fast interceptor craft are a series of high-speed interceptor boats being built by L&T Shipyard for the Indian Coast Guard. The ships are intended for patrol and rescue operations in India's Exclusive Economic Zone.
The MV Beluga Nomination incident was the capture and attempted liberation of a German freighter from Somali pirates by the Seychelles Coast Guard and Royal Danish Navy in January 2011. A few days after the taking of MV Beluga Nomination, a Seychelles patrol boat and a Danish flexible support ship, HDMS Esbern Snare, encountered the pirates and engaged in a failed rescue operation.
Operation Ocean Shield was NATO's contribution to Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa (OEF-HOA), an anti-piracy initiative in the Indian Ocean, Guardafui Channel, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea. It follows the earlier Operation Allied Protector. Naval operations began on 17 August 2009 after being approved by the North Atlantic Council, the program was terminated on 15 December 2016 by NATO. Operation Ocean Shield focused on protecting the ships of Operation Allied Provider, which transported relief supplies as part of the World Food Programme's mission in the region. The initiative also helped strengthen the navies and coast guards of regional states to assist in countering pirate attacks. Additionally, China, Japan and South Korea sent warships to participate in these activities.
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Piracy in Somalia has been a threat to international shipping since the beginning of the country's civil war in the early 1990s. Since 2005, many international organizations have expressed concern over the rise in acts of piracy. Piracy impeded the delivery of shipments and increased shipping expenses, costing an estimated $6.6 to $6.9 billion a year in global trade in 2011 according to Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP).
La Flèche (P32) is a 30-metre (98 ft) patrol vessel owned and operated by the Seychelles Coast Guard. La Flèche was donated to Seychelles by the United Arab Emirates, with a sister ship, on April 1, 2011.
PS Contant is a Trinkat-class patrol vessel owned and operated by the Seychelles Coast Guard. She was formerly operated by the Indian Navy as INS Tarasa (T63). India, as well as the United Arab Emirates, have helped equip the Seychelles Coast Guard with patrol vessels. India and the UAE helped equip the tiny Seychelles with these patrol vessels due to its strategic location, very near the area off the Horn of Africa that is notorious for pirate attacks.
PS Topaz is a Trinkat-class patrol vessel owned and operated by the Seychelles Coast Guard. She was formerly operated by the Indian Navy as INS Tarmugli (T64). India, like China and the United Arab Emirates, have helped equip the Seychelles Coast Guard with patrol vessels. India, China, and the UAE helped equip the tiny Seychelles with these patrol vessels due to its strategic location, very near the area off the Horn of Africa that is notorious for pirate attacks.
2022 in piracy resulted in 115 reports of maritime piracy and armed robbery against ships to the International Maritime Bureau. 288 acts of global piracy and robbery were recorded by the MICA Centre. Piracy had substantially increased in the Gulf of Guinea; the year began with five incidents each month, through March, in the Gulf, where acts of piracy had become heightened during 2015 through 2020, while, overall, piracy incidents declined globally.
"The UAE pledged the donation of five maritime patrol vessels in July last year... We are deeply grateful for this gesture and we note its importance as our fight against piracy is an immediate concern, which requires swift action and concrete support from the international community," said Seychellois President Michel.
Two of these patrol boats are 30 metres long and can carry around 15 people each. The first has been named La Flèche and the second is Le Vigilant.
Seychelles now has 6 patrol ships: Topaz, Constant, Andromache, Etoile, La Flèche and Le Vigilant.
Apart from Etoile and Constant there are four other patrol vessels in the Seychelles Coast Guard's fleet; Topaz, Andromache (built in Italy in 1982 and funded by the Seychelles government) and La Flèche and Le Vigilant (both gifted by the UAE in 2011).
Over the past few years, the UAE has provided the Seychelles with a coast guard headquarters, radar stations, patrol boats and surveillance aircraft. There are now about 100 Somali pirates facing jail terms in the Seychelles and helping provide information about piracy gangs.
The Seychelles coastguard helped protect the couple's privacy as they stayed on North Island, the report added. On their last day the royal couple invited the coastguard ashore to personally thank them for their efforts.