Sea Protectors

January 31, 2013 (LBO) – The Royal Netherlands government has begun using key ports across Sri Lanka as points to disembark groups of marines deployed to protect Dutch marines from piracy attacks in the Indian Ocean. The group of Vessel Protection Detachment (VPD) team, currently protect vessels originating from Suez in Egypt.

Most of these attacks occur in the Arabian Sea, off the coast of Somalia, the Royal Netherlands embassy in Colombo said in a statement on Thursday.

With the assistance of the Sri Lankan defence authorities, the Dutch VPD teams now use certain local harbours to embark and disembark teams.

The marines also abide with Sri Lankan laws with respect to storing their weapons and ammunition. Sri Lanka becomes hub in Dutch anti-piracy drive Feb 01, 2013 (LBO) - Dutch and Sri Lankan defence authorities are using ports in the island as a hub for the Royal Netherland Navy personnel to provide anti-piracy protection to ships crossing the Indian Ocean. Pirates originating from Somalia have become a serious threat to shipping in the Indian Ocean with most of the attacks occurring in the Arabian Sea.

The Netherlands embassy in Colombo said Dutch marines are being deployed on vessels crossing