2023-01-25 – Safaga to Salalah, Oman – Day 22

Wednesday January 25, 2023 

A quiet day with a very interesting lecture by the Royal Navy liaison officer – Lt Commander David Carter MNM RN, who is responsible for the safety and security of all merchant vessels in the region. It was started to help fight off piracy, but now covers drugs, human trafficking, illegal immigration etc. He explained in detail how the system works and the fact that all the navy’s US, UK, Russia, China etc all work together to fight this and cover the entire Indian Ocean, but particularly in the Gulf of Aden around Eritrea, Somalia, Yemen, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia and in particular the narrow Bab al Mandab between Djibouti and Aden in Yemen just as the Red Sea becomes the Gulf of Aden which is a part of the Indian Ocean. The threat of piracy from Somalia was partially stopped by the successful basket weaving operation!!! Here the British trained the local Somalia women to do basket weaving and provided a means of export and thus remuneration for their efforts. As time went by, the women were earning more than the men who lived by piracy (mainly holding for ransom). So the men started working for the women and leaving their piracy life. Today although there are still cases, it has virtually disappeared. Also most ships undergo best practices, traveling fast and having visible means of defense (water cannons etc, not guns) and none have been pirated who follow these security actions. The likelihood of a pirate skiff who carry 8 meter ladders, entering the Queen Mary II that the first open deck is 12 meters above the water, is highly unlikely. They tend to go for slower ships than are easy to board and have few people aboard. However, Cunard  opts to have full training for staff and passengers, fast speed (20+ knots) complete blackout overnight etc. 

We are now in this region and will be for the next couple of days so it was interesting to hear the safety briefing and follow all the procedures.

This evening, being Robert Burns night, the Parade of the Haggis was held and Haggis served for dinner, which Anne enjoyed. The entertainment show was the amusing ventriloquist from Devon, UK – Jimmy Tamley. 

This is the part of the world where we are now, entering the “Pirate Zone” in the gulf of Aden.