HMNZS Te Mana is heading to the Gulf of Aden
A navy frigate is again being sent to the Gulf of Aden, near Africa and the Middle East to help combat piracy.
Defence
Minister Jonathan Coleman says HMNZS Te Mana will join the
international Combined Maritime Force (CMF) in November for a
three-month deployment after a work-up period in Australia.
It
will deploy with the Australian frigate HMAS Melbourne, before heading
to the Gulf of Aden which is between Yemen and Somalia.
From the middle of next year, an air force Orion maritime patrol aircraft will join the CMF for three months.
"Piracy in the Gulf of Aden Indian Ocean
region affects all countries with shipping trade going through the Suez
Canal," Dr Coleman said.
"New
Zealand has a direct interest in supporting the maritime security
taskforce and protecting shipping lanes, with a large volume of our
trade carried by shipping."
The CMF is a naval partnership of 27 nations.
It
operates across 2.5 million square miles of international waters and
includes the main shipping routes from the Far East to Europe and the
United States.
A New Zealand
frigate was part of the operation in 2008, and in 2010 navy captain Jim
Gilmour commanded a counter-piracy taskforce
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