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Gulf of Aden

 
Dictionary: Aden, Gulf of
Aden, Gulf of
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An arm of the Arabian Sea lying between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Somalia in eastern Africa. It is connected with the Red Sea by the Bab el Mandeb.

 

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Arm of the Indian Ocean between the Arabian Peninsula and Somalia. To the west, it narrows into the Gulf of Tadjoura; its eastern limit is the meridian of Cape Guardafui. In these terms it is about 550 mi (885 km) long; geologically, it extends a total of 920 mi (1,480 km), to the eastern limits of the continental shelf beyond the Khuriyya Muriyya islands to the north and the island of Socotra to the south. Its marine life is rich in quantity and variety. Its coastline lacks large-scale fishing facilities but supports many fishing towns, as well as the major ports Aden and Djibouti.

For more information on Gulf of Aden, visit Britannica.com.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Gulf of Aden
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Aden, Gulf of (ä'dən, ā'-), western arm of the Arabian Sea, 550 mi (885 km) long, lying between Yemen and Somalia; connected with the Red Sea by the Bab el Mandeb. The gulf is on the great Mediterranean Sea-Indian Ocean trade route. After the 16th cent. Portugal, Turkey, and Great Britain were the chief contenders for control of the gulf, but by the 19th cent. Britain dominated the area. In the late 1960s, British military withdrawal E of Suez led to an increased Soviet naval presence in the gulf area. The importance of the Gulf of Aden declined when the Suez Canal was closed, but it was revitalized when, after being deepened and widened by Egypt, the canal was reopened in 1975 and marine activity increased. The Gulf of Aden is richly supplied with fish, turtles, and lobsters.


Wikipedia: Gulf of Aden
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Gulf of Aden
Gulf of Aden
Gulf of Aden
Ocean type Gulf
Max depth 2,700 m (8,900 ft)

The Gulf of Aden (Arabic: خليج عدن‎; transliterated: Khalīj 'Adan, Somali: Khaleejka Cadan) is located in the Arabian Sea between Yemen on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula and Somalia in the Horn of Africa. In the northwest, it connects with the Red Sea through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, which is about 20 miles wide.

The waterway is part of the important Suez canal shipping route between the Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian Sea in the Indian Ocean with 21,000 ships crossing the gulf annually.[1] The gulf is known by the nickname "Pirate Alley" due to the large amount of pirate activity in the area.

Contents

Commerce and trade

A dhow in the Gulf of Aden.

The Gulf of Aden is a vital waterway for shipping, especially for Persian Gulf oil, making it an integral waterway in the world economy.[2] Approximately 11 percent of the world's seaborne petroleum passes through the Gulf of Aden on its way to the Suez Canal or to regional refineries.[3] The main ports along the gulf are Aden in Yemen, and Zeila, Berbera, and Bosaso in Somalia.

In earlier history, the city of Crater, located just east of the modern city of Aden, was an important port in regional trade. Crater was the principal harbor of the pre-Islamic kingdom of Awsan, and after its annexation by the kingdom of Saba at the end of the 5th century, the port of Crater played a significant role in connecting Africa with Arabia.

Hydrography

The temperature of the Gulf of Aden varies between 15 °C (59 °F) and 28 °C (82 °F), depending on the season and the appearance of monsoons. The salinity of the gulf at 10 metres (33 ft) depth varies from 35.3 along the eastern Somali coast to as high as 37.3 ‰ in the gulf's center,[4] while the oxygen content in the Gulf of Aden at the same depth is typically between 4.0 and 5.0 mL/L.[4]

Ecology

A geologically young body of water, the Gulf of Aden has a unique biodiversity that contains many varieties of fish, coral, seabirds, and invertebrates. This rich ecological diversity has benefited from a relative lack of pollution during the history of human habitation around the gulf, but environmental groups fear that the lack of a coordinated effort to control pollution may jeopardize the gulf's ecosphere.[5]

Piracy

1860 map of Gulf of Aden

The Gulf of Aden is an area known for acts of piracy,[6] making its waters dangerous for water transport. The main cause of piracy in the gulf is the lack of any viable government in Somalia.[1] The International Maritime Bureau reported over two dozen actual and attempted attacks in 2007 in the gulf off of the coast of Somalia.[7]

On 4 April 2008, pirates commandeered a French luxury yacht in the Gulf of Aden with 34 crew members off the coast of Somalia.[8]

On 21 August 2008, a dry cargo ship going from China to the Netherlands with 40,000 tons of iron ore, a crew of 29 and an Iranian flag was hijacked in international waters in the gulf. As a result of talks the ship and its crew were released on October 10th.[9]

On 15 September 2008, the Japanese chemical tanker Stolt Valor was seized by pirates in the gulf off Somalia. The crew of 22 consisted of 18 Indians, two Filipinos, one Bangladeshi and one Russian. This vessel was later released on 16 November 2008 after 62 days in captivity, allegedly after a ransom of $ 2.5 Million was paid to the pirates.

Burning cargo on the Hyundai Fortune, after an unexplained explosion in 2006

In order to deter piracy, the Maritime Security Patrol Area, a narrow corridor through the center of the gulf, was established in 22 September 2008 by the Combined Task Force 150.

On 4 October 2008, pirates attacked an arms ship. Four attempts were foiled by counter-piracy maneuvering, and there were no captives or injuries reported in these encounters with Gulf pirates. [10]

On 11 November 2008 Jag Arnav a 38,265-tonne bulk carrier, owned by Mumbai-based Great Eastern Shipping Company was attacked by pirates. The ship sent an SOS call which was picked up by an Indian Navy warship INS Tabar, patrolling the region. An armed helicopter with marine commandos was launched from the naval warship INS Tabar to intervene and prevent the pirates from boarding and hijacking the merchant vessel. The helicopter attacked the pirates by firing on them, forcing them to abort the hijack attempt and escape from there.[11]

The Indian Navy warship INS Tabar claimed to have destroyed a pirate “mother ship” in the evening of 18 November 2008; [12] the nature of the ship has since been disputed by the ship's owner. The ship was the Ekawat Nava 5, a deep-sea trawler whose crew was being held hostage below-deck by pirates at the time of the encounter. [13]

In December 2008, pirates attempted to hijack a US-based luxury cruising vessel, Nautica, but the vessel sped to safety. Yet another attempt by pirates was made on December 13 to hijack a cargo vessel flying an Ethiopian flag. After receiving the May Day call, an Indian Navy ship INS Mysoor came to its rescue and captured 23 pirates, including those of Somali and Yemeni origin.

Moreover, a number of terrorist attacks have been carried out in the gulf, including the 2000 attack on the American guided missile destroyer the USS Cole.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Pirates fire on US cruise ship in hijack attempt: Yahoo! News". Yahoo!. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081202/ap_on_re_af/piracy. Retrieved 2008-12-04. 
  2. ^ "Earth from Space: The Gulf of Aden – the gateway to Persian oil". European Space Agency. 2005-03-01. http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEMWOXNFGLE_index_0.html. Retrieved 2008-04-04. 
  3. ^ "Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden". International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF). 2003. http://www.itopf.com/information-services/country-profiles/documents/redsea.pdf. Retrieved 2008-04-04. 
  4. ^ a b "Hydrographic Survey Results". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2008. http://www.fao.org/WAIRDOCS/FNS/FN023E/ch2.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-09. 
  5. ^ "Red Sea & Gulf of Aden". United Nations Environment Programme. 2005. http://www.unep.org/regionalseas/Programmes/Non-UNEP_administered_Programmes/Red_Sea_and_Gulf_of_Eden/default.asp. Retrieved 2008-04-04. 
  6. ^ "US Coalition Presence in Gulf Helps Cut Piracy: Commander". Arab News. 2005-07-03. http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=66307&d=3&m=7&y=2005. Retrieved 2008-04-04. 
  7. ^ "Heavily armed pirates spark regional shipping alert". ArabianBusiness.com. 2007-12-24. http://www.arabianbusiness.com/506828-heavily-armed-pirates-spark-regional-shipping-alert. Retrieved 2008-04-04. 
  8. ^ "Pirates storm French yacht off Somalia". Reuters. 2008-04-04. http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnBAN457575.html. Retrieved 2008-04-04. 
  9. ^ "İran: Korsanlara karşı tüm seçenekler masada (Iran: all options on the table in dealing with pirates)". Hurriyet. 2008-11-24. http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/dunya/10431807.asp. Retrieved 2004-11-24. 
  10. ^ "Four pirate attacks off Somalia in 24 hours, U.S. says". CNN. 2008-10-04. http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/10/04/somalia.priates.attacks.ap/index.html#cnnSTCText. Retrieved 2008-11-13. 
  11. ^ "Pirates attack Indian ship, Navy intervenes". The Hindu. 2008-11-11. http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200811111532.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-13. 
  12. ^ "Indian Navy destroys pirate ship in Gulf of Aden". The Hindu. 2008-11-20. http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/20/stories/2008112057570100.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-20. 
  13. ^ "Pirate 'mothership' was really Thai fishing boat". Times Online. 2008-11-27. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article5235404.ece. Retrieved 2008-12-03. 

External links


Coordinates: 12°32′45″N 48°08′44″E / 12.54583°N 48.14556°E / 12.54583; 48.14556


 
 

 

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Gulf of Aden" Read more

 

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