Japan, EU Strengthening Antipiracy Cooperation

London, Feb. 17 (Jiji Press)--Japan and the European Union are strengthening antipiracy cooperation in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia, helping an international mission to reduce the number of attacks by pirates on commercial vessels to just two in 2014 from 174 in 2011. Their first joint operation took place in January last year, when EU naval forces and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force troops teamed up to capture a pirate ship. The MSDF destroyer Samidare initially gained information on a commercial vessel coming under attack in the Gulf of Aden. The MSDF immediately sent its P-3C patrol aircraft to monitor the situation, while an EU naval vessel from France was dispatched to the site to arrest the pirates. The trial of the five men arrested began in January at a court in the Republic of Seychelles in eastern Africa, where they were indicted under an agreement between the EU and Seychelles. The MSDF is expected to present evidence collected at the site and MSDF officials are expected to testify. Aiming to boost joint operations, Japan and the EU have conducted three antipiracy exercises together in the Gulf of Aden since October. In the first, the MSDF destroyer Takanami and an Italian destroyer were deployed to carry out on-site inspections and other operations. The Gulf of Aden is a strategic waterway through which approximately 5,000 vessels pass per month carrying Middle Eastern oil and other goods. Even though the number of piracy incidents has drastically reduced, the area is far from stable, with Islamic extremists still active. Against this backdrop, the EU has extended its antipiracy mission by two years to the end of 2016. The MSDF also extended its mission by one year through July this year, but the EU is hoping for a further extension. "Two main components of maritime security have been ships at sea, but also maritime patrol aircraft," said Martin Smith, the operation commander of the EU Naval Force. "The Japanese government contributes to both very successfully and we would be very keen to see this contribution continue." Patrick de Rousiers, chairman of the EU Military Committee, has recently cited the fight against piracy as one of the key fields for EU-Japan cooperation. END