Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Somali pirates causing peril on the high seas are now facing the might and mettle of a seasoned seawoman based in Bahrain.
Rear Admiral Michelle Howard recently took command of several US 5th Fleet task forces, including CTF 151, the multi-national task force that conducts counter piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea, Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
She replaces Rear Admiral Terence McKnight, the previous task force commander, who successfully cracked down on piracy but found that the measures employed only forced the criminals to change their tactics and move their menace further afield.
“My top priority right now is to deter piracy. I want to continue the extensive international co-ordination Admiral McKnight started. That’s the true key to defeating piracy,” she said.
This weekend Rear Admiral Michelle Howard had a baptism of fire when US commandos were called in to rescue the captured captain of the American cargo ship Maersk Alabama after a five-day standoff.
The commandos killed three Somali pirates holding Captain Richard Phillips and a fourth pirate was taken into custody by US authorities.
'Piracy is a problem that affects all maritime nations and requires an international solution. I'm looking forward to working with naval professionals from around the world on this vital mission,' she said.
Rear Admiral Howard was the first African American woman to command a ship in the US Navy in 1999 and her new role as the commander of CTF 151 brings with it unique challenges.
The pirates have moved away from the Gulf of Aden into the wider Indian Ocean which is one of the world's most crucial shipping lanes, with Gulf-registered oil vessels and other merchant ships carrying billions of dollars worth of cargo.
Prior to assuming her current role, Rear Admiral Howard served as the Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of the US Navy.
She graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1982 and from the Army's Command and General Staff College in 1998 with a Masters in Military Arts and Sciences. She is the recipient of Secretary of the Navy/Navy League Captain Winifred Collins award in 1987 that is given to one woman officer annually for outstanding leadership.
In Bahrain she will have the support of some of the world's most respected crime prevention agencies.
Mark Russ, Special Agent In Charge of Naval Investigative Service (NCIS) Middle East Field Office in Bahrain, revealed: 'Two NCIS agents from Bahrain are in Mombasa presently where they will assist and support the US Navy and FBI as necessary. Three NCIS agents are on two CTF 151 ships that are part of the task force.'
Vice Admiral William Gortney, Commander of Navy forces at Central Command in Bahrain, added: 'Pirates have merely headed elsewhere to avoid the growing armada of international forces arrayed against them.
'The US Navy and its international partners began focusing on the Gulf of Aden and seeing results but as soon as ship seizures there began to lessen, the pirates shifted their activity south into the Indian Ocean. But the last couple of weeks, we also saw activity, attempts and successful attacks occur on the east coast of Somalia - where the Maersk Alabama was attacked.'
