Saudi Navy has started taking part in unfolding the future of piracy in the seas south of the Horn of Africa. Since November last year, Saudi Navy has engaged three warships in the Arab Sea and Gulf of Eden to escort Saudi commercial ships in areas most likely targets for pirates. Fully equipped with weaponry, the Saudi warships, along with multinational naval forces, have been tasked with round the clock monitoring of sea traffic south of the Horn of Africa to fight heavily-armed pirates on speedboats with satellite phones and GPS equipment. The multinational naval forces are instructed to get tough on pirates and to respond to help calls from all commercial ships. Earlier last week, Dauphine-type helicopter of the Saudi Navy joined a Malaysian helicopter to save a 92,000-ton Indian tanker from being plundered by pirates in two skiffs. International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Center head Noel Choong has reportedly said that the increase in naval activity in the gulf of Aden was making piracy increasingly difficult and this was causing pirates to become more desperate to get their hands on any ships they could.
