26 NAVY NEWS, SEPTEMBER 2008
But knowing it goes on helps to people traffi cking) scattered across two It’s an unremitting, painstaking task. tally. he
marina Continued from page 25
CTF 152 do, if not avidly, then at least
complete the big picture – and putting and a half million square miles of ocean. And it is one which reaps dividends once As it turned out the dhow was hiding a or
regularly.
a stop to it wins the hearts of local These are all issues which extend you’ve established the ‘pattern of life’ secret compartment, barely a couple of ch
But the wider world?
mariners. far beyond the maritime sphere – they here. feet wide. Inside were sacks and sacks Wi
Search Wikipedia – the sprawling
The small fi sh remain just that. There’s are military, political, social, economic, Which is exactly what Montrose did of hashish and a little heroin – ten tonnes hu
internet encyclopædia – for references
no evidence to link the small-time ideological. from the moment she arrived in the Gulf of narcotics in all, worth £20m on the ter
to the naval forces east of Suez. CTF 150
smugglers with the more sinister drugs/ “These are problems which will not go of Aden. streets. the
and 158 are there, but not 152.
terrorist trade. away,” says Cdre Winstanley. “We started out talking to the Yemeni It was the largest seizure by any Royal we
So the ‘forgotten fl eet’ then?
But the presence of the proverbial “They are more than simply maritime fi shermen,” explains Cdr Hogben. Navy vessel east of Suez in recent years,
“People know about the 150 task force
‘bobby on the beat’ has the desired issues, the root causes of many of these “They set out at sunrise in small boats, or as Cdr Hogben put it “a good day for ve
because they pass through the area if
effect – the criminals generally stay away issues are ashore but the practical hunting for tuna, and return at sunset. us, a bad day for the criminals.” no
they’re heading for the Gulf or the Far
when there’s 3,500 tons of battleship manifestations present themselves in the They wear balaclavas to protect their Each sack had to be removed and de
East and the work of 158 is publicised,
grey nearby. maritime arena. faces from the sun. They come hurtling counted on the dhow’s deck before se
but it’s almost as if there’s a blank
“Our presence They are issues at you, get within 200 metres of your one by one, they were ripped up and its pla
between Hormuz and the northern Gulf,”
should be like
“A good day for us, a bad day
that we have to ship, cutting across your bow.” contents tossed into the Indian Ocean. ha
sighs Montrose’s Cdr Hogben.
dropping pebbles
for the criminals.”
deal with.” Balaclavas. Small boats moving It took a team of 20 sailors and marines a s
Capt Malcolm Cree – 152’s ‘afl oat
in a pond – the The tide of rapidly, cutting across the bows of over nine hours – in 40˚ heat. tha
commander’ – agrees.
ripples should – Cdr Andy Hogben refugees from merchantmen. On the surface, these are
“My sailors could see the tangible
fl e
“People know what happens in
move outwards,” Somalia is never- the tactics of pirates and terrorists.
results of their efforts, although I
the
the north of the Gulf, they know what
says Cdr Hogben. ending. Each year Indeed, as yacht skipper Johan
happens outside the Gulf.
Monitoring trade is just one strand of 30,000 Somalis seek to escape their Lillkung confi ded in his log, the mood
don’t think it sank in until about
US
“CTF 152 is probably not as tangible,
152’s mission, however. chaotic homeland, paying unscrupulous of many mariner in the Gulf of Aden is
24 hours afterwards,” Cdr Hogben
wa
but in the future, what we are doing
Equally important is safeguarding traffi ckers between $50 and $150 to take “erring on the side of paranoia”.
says.
he
here will be recognised. It is of crucial
the infrastructure of the Gulf: oil and them to Yemen. Cdr Hogben adds: “We were getting
The criminals too will feel the tangible
ca
importance for the future.”
gas platforms, power stations, water Many never reach Yemen’s shores. calls from merchantmen: We’re being
results of the Allied anti-drugs sweep in
wa
It’s also of crucial importance for the
desalination plants. Think: protecting the
“The traffi ckers are ruthless.
attacked.”
the Indian Ocean.
here and now.
Iraqi oil platforms, then multiply it several
They will shoot people or dump
In the cases Montrose investigated,
For the most part, they come from the
wo
CTF 152 is not a task group in the
hundred times and you have an idea of
them over the side into the sea,”
the ‘attackers’ were Yemeni fi shermen,
Makran coast which straddles Iran and
Na
traditional sense. You will not fi nd the
the scale of the challenge.
Cdre Winstanley explains.
chasing shoals of tuna. They make
Pakistan, leaving in speedboats and
ca
ships bunched up à la Illustrious’ Orion
It’s not surprising, then, that the task perhaps $20 a day for their efforts.
dhows (the latter are up to 35 metres –
in
08 force earlier this year.
force has recently been carrying out
“In the past couple of weeks alone,
“It is a fascinating way of life,” says
115ft – long), heading south and west.
ve
The ships operate independently – it’s
exercises to defend these platforms.
American warships have provided
Montrose’s CO.
Unlike the comparative narcotics trade
bo
their aim which is common, or as Cdre
And although the RN has a wealth
assistance to vessels with 100-150
“But the fi shermen were frightened
in the Caribbean, the money fi lters back
Hudson puts it, “The sum of the off ththe e
of experience to call upon, as
refugees on board.”
by our presence until we started talking
not to drug barons for their personal
parts should be greater than the thehhe e
MoMMontront ose’s CO points out, “you
Much more lucrative is the trade in
to them, while merchantmen don’t like
aggrandisement, but invariably to y totoo
individual.”
canccannot use the same tactics
narcotics.
boats hurtling towards them, cutting
terrorists and extremists.
But how do you police
anand methods to defend the
Last month the US and UK military
across their bows. There are a lot of
Despite this year’s clutch
65,000 square miles of sea?
plpplatforms here as you do off
lifted the lid on the Allied campaign
nervous merchant ships out there,
of successes by Allied
Well, for a start, you have
IrIraIraq.”
against drug traffi ckers in the Indian
understandably.”
warships, it’s far too early to
to concede that with half
There are, however, some
Ocean.
Thanks to the work of Montrose if
talk of ‘victory’.
a dozen ships, you cannot
cocconstants in task foro ces 158
Drug-busting operations have been a
not less nervous, then merchant sailors
“The enemy will chop and
patrol the entire Gulf – but
anand 152. For a start, both arn e
mainstay of RN patrols in the Caribbean
should at least be better informed about
change tactics all the time,”
you can concentrate your
intinternt national (although 152
for years.
what to expect in waters off Yemen.
Cdre Winstanley warns.
efforts in specifi c stretches.
iis a much mors s a e diverse affair
Just as there are few parallels
And thanks to building up that
“I liken it a little to Bletchley
Secondly, and vitally, you uu
– – Bahrainis, Pakistanis, New Ba
between the northern and southern Gulf,
comprehensive picture of fi shermen’s
Park during the war. We will lll
must understand what Cdr CdrCd
ZeaZeZZealanders for example have all lanl d
so strangling the ‘Hashish Highway’ is
habits, Montrose knew that when she
have successes, but we must not nonot t
Hogben calls the ‘pattern of life’ – the fee’ tht e
serseserved with it).vedd withh
a very different proposition from
came across a dhow moving
be surprised if the enemy adapts and tsts andana
i
daily goings on in these waters.
And climatic conditions are similar. At
curbing traffi c in the Caribbean.an.ana
against the flagaaaggainsinn ow “something
we go through some lean periods.
ex
“It’s about knowing what is normal
this time of year, that means hot.
For one thing, CTF 150’0’’ss
was up.”waswa
“It’s a long, drawn-out operation and
an
fi rst so that you can spot the abnormal,”
“This is a punishing environment,”
realm is more than twice the e e
ConfiC rmation that
we must be prepared to be in this for
inv
Montrose’s CO explains.
says Cdr Hogben.
size:
‘s‘something was up’ came s
the long haul. It’s a game for thinking
Fishing inside the Gulf is not the same
“The boarding teams return to
There are many more
wwhen the frigate sailed up
people.”
ea
as outside it, for instance. Here dhows, Montrose physically drained and
nations bordering the
totto the run-down vessel. int
not skiffs, are the order of the day and absolutely drenched. We’re going to
shores – and many more
The presence of a 3,500
Visible in the heat haze just south of
co
they scatter pots fi lled with bait to catch weigh some of the party just to see how
nations committed to the
tottons of gro ey steel, guns,
Al Basrah Oil Terminal, the Mighty
be
their prey. much weight they lose during a search.
police action (more than 20
mimmissiles and helicopter has a
At ’Em manoeuvres adroitly.
is
And even in a region where fuel is ‘dirt “The sea temperature is about
navies have sent ships to join n
habhhabit of (a) putting the willies ab
On the bridge of HMS Chatham, the
bu
cheap’ (it’ll cost you little more than £5 34˚C which means it doesn’t cool the
Combined Task Force 150 at aatat
up upuup sailors or (b) at the very p sasa
electronic chart – WECDIS – is criss- the
to fi ll up a 4x4 in Bahrain, for example), machinery and the ship is running at
times).
lealleast grabbing their attention. The east sts grab
crossed by lines of demarcation, clearly all
there’s quite a bit of petrol smuggling; maximum effort.
And then there’s the enemymy. These ThT eseese
dhdhow’h ’s crew kept their heads down and k
showing where Iraqi and Iranian territorial
the price varies considerably among the “It never ceases to amaze me that I get
are far busier waters.
continued as if everything was normal.
waters are, plus zones claimed by the Ma
Gulf states. There’s a lively black market, cold water in the shower every morning
“At least 95 per cent of the vessels
The result was a visit from a Royal latter. Na
too, in dates and cigarettes. – there must be a wizard on board
are doing perfectly legitimate business
Marines and Royal Navy boarding party. It also shows the depth of water, Gu
Then there’s what Cdre Hudson calls somewhere.”
– that’s hundreds and hundreds of
“These dhows are fi lthy, hot, there’s ship locations, underwater hazards and
‘maritime mugging’ – piracy. In the Gulf
dhows,” says Cdre Winstanley. “Finding
little food, little water, and our lads get other essential details. With only several he
it’s more bully boy than anything else: There is no magic wand to bring order
the enemy is the classic needle in a
right in the thick of it.” metres on average under Chatham’s ha
stealing kit from vessels such as GPS to ‘Pirate Alley’ and the ‘Hashish haystack scenario. They don’t make it In the end, the traffi ckers were undone keel, the incredible accuracy of WECDIS,
systems, radios, phones, fi sh. Highway’, just eternal vigilance. easy for us.” by a measuring tape, a piece of paper, a together with the information it provides sa
It is not the task of the CTF 152 ships On paper it is a daunting task – a Indeed they do not. There are no pencil and some good old British nous. at a glance, enables her to be navigated wo
to put a clamp on such activities – they’re myriad of nations, a myriad of issues dodgy looking sailors in stripey T-shirts Every inch of the vessel was measured on the edge of the envelope. of
really after the bigger fi sh. (piracy, drug-running, arms-running, carrying sacks marked ‘swag’. and mapped out. The numbers didn’t Sometimes the ship needs to use ris
0025-027_NN_Sept.indd 225-027_NN_Sept.indd 2 118/8/08 13:40:288/8/08 13:40:28
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