NATO Sends In Stealth Submarine to Combat African Pirates

(June 28) -- Escalating the international fight against pirates in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, NATO is sending a Dutch submarine to the east coast of Africa to help monitor communications between pirate vessels and the warlords who control them onshore.

The alliance said today that one of four Walrus-class submarines in the Royal Netherlands Navy will start patrolling waters from the Gulf of Aden to the Indian Ocean starting in September and continuing through November. Walrus-class submarines are among the most modern non-nuclear subs deployed by the NATO-member navies and have stealth technology that makes them difficult to detect even by other submarines.

The Dutch submarine HNLMS Walrus sits moored to the pier at Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut, 2008.

John Narewski, U.S. Navy

NATO is sending one of four Dutch Walrus-class submarines to the east coast of Africa to help in the fight against pirates.

Deployment of the submarine comes shortly after NATO extended through the end of 2012 its Operation Ocean Shield, one of several international anti-piracy efforts in the region. And it comes as pirates continue to attack from their bases in the lawless coastal regions of Somalia.

Early this morning, pirates operating off the northern Somali coast attacked a Singapore ship and took hostage the 19 Chinese crew members on board, according to the European Union anti-piracy group operating in the region.

The German warship Schleswig-Holstein, part of the EU NAVFOR task force, immediately sent a helicopter to the area when it was alerted to the hijacking and reported seeing pirates on board the MV Golden Blessing.

The tanker, on its way from Saudi Arabia to India, was carrying more than 14,000 tons of glycoethelen, a chemical used in antifreeze. But pirates most often hold the ships and crew for ransom rather than steal the cargo.

EU NAVFOR said the ship was believed to be heading toward the Somali coast.

NATO said the Dutch submarine would target pirates responsible for hijacking commercial ships for ransoms worth millions of dollars.