EU guards to deter Somali pirates

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The British commander in charge of the EU anti-piracy mission says the force will station armed guards on vulnerable cargo ships in the Gulf of Aden.

Rear Admiral Phillip Jones says his priority is to ensure safe passage for ships transporting food aid to Somalia.

The EU force - which includes four ships and two maritime reconnaissance aircraft - will take over from Nato ships on Monday.

Rear Adm Jones said the task facing the mission was enormous.

"I'd be the first to admit that a naval force itself cannot eradicate piracy... but we can still make a significant contribution to combating piracy," he said.

Under a UN mandate, the task force - codenamed operation Atalanta - is not allowed to board seized ships or to free crews held hostage.

But Rear Adm Jones said the EU flotilla would operate under "robust rules of engagement" that include stationing armed detachments on the most vulnerable cargo vessels in high-risk areas.

"We will have at our disposal the ability to put a permanent presence on board those ships, for the duration of the transit of armed units, in order to specifically guarantee the safety of those ships as they transit through Somali territorial waters," he told a news conference in Brussels.

Cruise control

Rampant piracy off the coast of lawless Somalia has targeted cruise ships as well as commercial vessels, including a Saudi oil tanker and a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks and other weapons.

Pirates fired on the cruise ship MS Nautica last weekGerman cruise operator Hapag-Lloyd has taken the rare step of evacuating passengers from its cruise ship MS Columbus while it sails through the dangerous waters of the Gulf with a limited crew.

Some 246 passengers will be flown to Dubai, where they will spend three days before rejoining the ship in the Omani port of Salalah for the remainder of their round-the-world tour that began in Italy.

Last week, pirates fired upon the MS Nautica, a cruise liner carrying 650 passengers and 400 crew members, but the massive ship quickly outran its assailants.

Other ships have not been so lucky - pirates have attacked 32 vessels and hijacked 12 of them since Nato deployed a four-vessel flotilla on 24 October to escort cargo ships and conduct anti-piracy patrols.

The EU has conducted 20 peacekeeping operations so far, but the anti-piracy mission is its first naval endeavour.

In addition to the EU vessels, about a dozen other warships from the US, India, Russia and Malaysia are patrolling in the area.