Singapore to join anti-piracy efforts in Somali waters

The Singapore navy will join the international community in combating piracy in the Gulf of Aden, local media reported on Thursday.

According to the Straits Time's report, a Land Ship Tank and two Super Puma Helicopters along with 200 personnel will be deployed to waters off Somalia for a period of three months.

The ship will work with the multi-national Combined Task Force 151 to escort shipping in the troubled Somali waters.

"It is not possible for any country, including Singapore, to protect its own shipping in all the key sea lanes of the world. All countries therefore have to depend on international cooperation to secure the sea lanes for everyone's use," Singapore's Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean Thursday told the Parliament.

In recent months, several countries including China, the United States, Russia, France, India and Malaysia have sent warships to fight the buccaneering around the Somali coast and the Gulf of Aden on the north of Somalia.

Source: People's Daily.
Link: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6591750.html.