NATO has been running convoys through the area for years... they haven't been getting a lot of press because they haven't been that effective... ships have been taken by pirates from convoys!
Additionally, the operations are far more sophisticated than just a bunch of fishermen taking along some guns.
Unfortunately, the link no longer works, but I'm sure some Googling will find something more:
On call Convoy requests on the rise
Justin Stares Brussels - Tuesday 4 November 2008
THE European Union anti-piracy cell is already receiving five requests a day from ships looking for protection from pirates in the Gulf of Aden, writes Justin Stares in Brussels.
Shipowners were initially reluctant to join the Brussels convoys but have since changed their mind, said piracy cell chief Andres Breijo.
The convoys, led by two French frigates and overseen by a Spanish reconnaissance aircraft, began offering transits to commercial shipping last month and have already been swamped by requests.
"Shipowners did not initially welcome the service because it meant adjusting their schedules and waiting for the warships to depart," said Cap Breijo, right. "This costs money. "But since then they have changed their minds and we are now receiving five protection requests a day."
The demand has created "asset problems" for the EU because the two frigates can only "fully" protect two ships each. Given the fortnightly sailings in each direction across the gulf, this is wholly inadequate for the 300 ships, which are in the gulf on any given day, Capt Breijo said.
But frequencies will be improved once the EU's first armada arrives in the region in December. Separate and complementary Nato forces are also expected to take part in the convoy operation and a Russian vessel is also co-ordinating with the EU operations, Capt Breijo said.
While a frigate can only fully protect two ships, other vessels are reported to have tagged along. The French frigates have already seen off several attacks, said the EU chief, without giving details. "Other ships can stay close," he said. "It can be a deterrent. It is better than being on the outside [of the convoy]."
Ten nations have pledged support for the EU's first joint naval operation, scheduled to last a year. EC Audiovisual Library
http://www.lloydslist.com...n-call-...d=1225729774221
This entry didn't have a link:
Fairplay 6 May 2009 Pirates seize escorted ship
A GERMAN-owned ship with 11 crew members has been seized by pirates from within a warship-escorted convoy in the Gulf of Aden transit corridor, EU naval forces reported today.
"The vessel ... was sailing within the transit corridor and was picked out of a group transit within only a few minutes," an official statement from EU NAVFOR said.
"A helicopter from the closest warship was too late to prevent the ship from being hijacked," the statement continued, adding that the crew was believed to be unhurt.
Victoria - a 10,500dwt general cargo vessel flagged in Antigua & Barbuda that is owned and managed by Haren of the German group Intersee - was taken yesterday afternoon about 120 n-miles north of the Somali port of Boosaaso, EU anti-piracy officials told Bloomberg.
Lieutenant Nate Christensen, spokesman for the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet, told the Associated Press that the entire crew is Romanian. An Intersee executive confirmed the attack today and told Bloomberg the vessel was carrying 10,000 tonnes of rice to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
These two were from two of the long-running discussion & news threads on Somali piracy on the Warships1 board:
EU/NATO antipirate fleet now fighting pirates
Somalia pirates
Checking locations of the incidents over time shows a steady movement of the incidents from the Gulf of Aden to the south and east, out into the larger ocean off the African coast.
This is after the ships separate onto many different courses, for many different destinations, making continues convoy operations very difficult to do.
Oh, as for the other... here is a May 2009 report on that:
Somali pirates guided by London intelligence team, report says | World news | guardian.co.uk
Somali pirates guided by London intelligence team, report says
Document obtained by Spanish radio station says 'well-placed informers' in constant contact by satellite telephone.
Giles Tremlett in Madrid
Monday 11 May 2009 12.59 BST
Quote
The Somali pirates attacking shipping in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean are directed to their targets by a "consultant" team in London, according to a European military intelligence document obtained by a Spanish radio station.
The document, obtained by Cadena SER radio, says the team and the pirates remain in contact by satellite telephone.
It says that pirate groups have "well-placed informers" in London who are in regular contact with control centres in Somalia where decisions on which vessels to attack are made. These London-based "consultants" help the pirates select targets, providing information on the ships' cargoes and courses.
In at least one case the pirates have remained in contact with their London informants from the hijacked ship, according to one targeted shipping company.
The pirates' information network extends to Yemen, Dubai and the Suez canal.