5th Fleet Focus: Addressing the Pirate Menace

I was going to wait until next week before pointing out the increased naval activity off the east coast of Africa in regards to pirates, but events have drawn my attention to the region sooner. On Monday, Eagle1 posted an article about a Japanese Tanker hijacked at sea on Sunday off the coast of Somalia. Later on Monday we learned that the USS Porter (DDG 78) engaged the pirates while they were in international waters, sinking to skiffs ties to the hijacked vessel hull.

It appears that fog of war played into the incident, as it is reported the USS Porter (DDG 78) was unaware of the nature of the cargo on the hijacked Japanese-owned, Panamanian-flagged ship the Golden Mori. I'm not going to bother with much of the details of the incident beyond what Eagle1 is reporting, because the DoD is working to schedule a press conference with the Captain of the USS Porter (DDG 78) on Tuesday, where the fog of war will clear on the incident.

However, new details are being reported that the hijacking took place off the Socotra Islands, and the USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) is shadowing the vessel. More interesting is news that the Somalian government has given permission to the USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) to enter Somalian waters to pursue the hijacked vessel. As far as I am aware, this is the first time the government of Somalia has given the international coalition permission to hunt pirates.

Last week France dispatched the frigate FS Guépratte to Somalia to escort UN chartered ships supporting the World Food Program in Somalia. The USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41) is also in the region, however I do not believe the LSD has any Marines onboard. However, on October 16th, the 22nd MEU completed 2 weeks of training in Kuwait and reconstituted aboard the Kearsarge Strike Group amphibious ships. This would free up the ships to offer Marines for any operations against the pirates and the hijacked ship. USS Porter (DDG 78) is part of the Kearsarge Strike Group.

Although the Enterprise Strike Group is in the theater, and while the USS Arleigh Burke is part of the Enterprise Strike Group, it is unlikely the USS Enterprise would move away from Iraq to deal with pirates. However, the USS Forrest Sherman, also part of the Enterprise ESG, has been operating off the east coast of Africa in support of AFRICOM and is available.

Finally, the USS Wasp (LHD 1) is in theater as well. The USS Wasp (LHD 1) is also not carrying Marines, but does offer an alternative for moving aircraft around the region in MAG elements that would be supporting either Iraq, or operations off Somalia.

The US Navy has a number of assets available regionally that can support virtually any operation against pirates. I'm not going to go into detail, but there are at least 4 US and allied nuke subs in the region, and they bring a number of SOF options into play. If I was the pirates onboard the Golden Mori, I don't think I would be sleeping well tonight.