Somali maritime police step up patrols as piracy fears grow

Somalia’s maritime police force has intensified patrols in the Red Sea after a failed pirate hijacking of a ship in the Gulf of Aden (Jackson Njehia/AP)

Somalia’s maritime police force has intensified patrols in the Red Sea after a failed pirate hijacking of a ship in the Gulf of Aden.

The commander of the maritime force in the semiautonomous region of Puntland, Abdullahi Mohamed Ahmed, said patrols in the waters have doubled and are on a 24-hour rotation to deter pirates.