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AbyssiniaLady
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The importance of the Somali Sea

Post by AbyssiniaLady » 24 Jan 2022, 19:43

The Somali maritime space

Somalia has by far the richest and the longest coastline of any country in Africa at roughly 3,333 km (1,200 km along the Gulf of Berbera/Aden and 2,133 km along the Indian Ocean).


According to The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) The exclusive economic zone of Somalia covers 1,477,500 million square kilometers, Including the limit of its outer continental shelf beyond 200M, from which the breadth of the nation’s territorial waters is measured. In accordance with Law No. 37 passed in 1972, Somalia’s EEZ falls under its territorial sovereignty.

On 9 February 1989, the Somali parliament ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The treaty defines the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the world’s oceans, and establishes guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine Natural resources.

In 2014 Somalia submitted to the Commission its claim to extend its coastal EEZ from 200 nautical miles to 350 nautical miles.




(Southern Somalia.)


The Somali maritime space, which wraps around the Horn of Africa from the Gulf of Berbera/Aden to the Western Indian Ocean, is immense. The coastline stretches from Djibouti to Kenya and the maritime territory claimed in the corresponding exclusive economic zone covers 1,477,500 million square kilometers, including the limit of its outer continental shelf beyond 200M, To put it in perspective, this maritime space is larger than the maritime spaces claimed by Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon, Egypt, Tanzania and Kenya combined. Nowhere else in the world does such a poor and politically fractured government take responsibility for such a vast maritime area.

In the north, Somali waters encompass approximately half the Gulf of Berbera/Aden, stretching some 1,200 km from the western border with Djibouti across Somaliland and Puntland toward the island of Socotra. This highly trafficked region is transited by nearly all of the global commerce between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Shipping traffic is heavily concentrated in the west as ships approach the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, but disperses closer to the Arabian Sea in the east. The geopolitical importance of this maritime region is evinced by the presence of French, American, Japanese, and Chinese bases and German, Italian, and Spanish logistic support facilities in nearby Djibouti. Most shipping traffic passes through this region without stopping in northern Somali ports, but most Somali commerce occurs in the northern port cities of Bosasso and Berbera.

The southern portion of the Somali maritime space extends for more than 2,133 km along the northeastern coast of the African continent. This stretch spans the waters off Puntland south toward Jubaland before ending near the border with Kenya. It includes the vital port cities of Mogadishu and Kismayo, but also hundreds of miles of remote, sparsely populated, and poorly governed coastline. International shipping traffic is less concentrated there than it is in the Gulf of Berbera/Aden, but enough ships transit the area to support illicit activities like Illegal, unregulated, and unreported foreign fishing.

Sandy beaches form a large part of the coastal environment of Somalia and are particularly important to the sea turtle populations, The coast of Somalia is one of the more important turtle nesting grounds on a global scale.




(People enjoying the ocean breeze..)




(Walk along the Somali ocean shore.)


(Northeastern Somalia.)

Opportunities

Somali waters which are home to more than half of all marine species of the entire Indian ocean, have the potential to be as lucrative as they are vast. Somali maritime claims contain rich fisheries that attract fishing fleets from all over the world. With better fisheries management and more sustainable practices, this area could be a vital source of revenue and food security for the foreseeable future. If Somali authorities can bolster the legitimate fishing economy and end illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing by foreign fleets, the industry could greatly improve coastal livelihoods and potentially offer coastal residents some relief from food shortages.


Future Chinese invasion of Somalia, Mozambique and Madagascar.



According to a paper published in the Chinese-language Bulletin of Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry in February 2021, Chinese researchers say they have identified a number of “strategically important” deep sea mineral deposits as part of a decade-long survey of the world’s sea floors. The researchers conducted a series of government-funded surveys from 2011 to 2020, and located potentially high-yield deposits of various essential industrial minerals from nickel to rare earths, A few of the deposits were in the South China Sea, but most were in the northwestern and southwestern Indian Ocean.

According to the researchers, China’s future deep sea mining activities would likely be focused in the northwestern and southwestern Indian Ocean. In these areas, Chinese research vessels have discovered a large number of previously unknown “chimneys” pumping mineral-rich material to the sea floor from the depths of the Earth. Some deposits contained ores of high enough quality for commercial exploitation. For example, the survey found reserves of nickel – a metal that could boost the performance of electric car batteries – tended to be found on the sides undersea mountains rather than on the peaks or in basins.

The Northwestern Indian Ocean = Somali Sea.
The Southwestern Indian Ocean = Mozambique and Madagascar Sea.

Old video. 2017
Last edited by AbyssiniaLady on 25 Jan 2022, 15:40, edited 2 times in total.

AbyssiniaLady
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Re: The importance of the Somali Sea

Post by AbyssiniaLady » 24 Jan 2022, 23:13

Eritrea and Djibouti have not been left behind, despite lacking vast maritime space, their waters/seabed are rich in copper, nickel, aluminium, manganese, zinc, lithium and cobalt etc, This is according to reliable France governmental geological website. I will post the survey report in french language soon.



AbyssiniaLady
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Re: The importance of the Somali Sea

Post by AbyssiniaLady » 24 Jan 2022, 23:58

Somalia is a country isolated by ocean but the western neocolonialism are not taking their eyes off Somalia & the Somali sea.


(Central Somalia sea)


(Northeastern Somalia sea)
Last edited by AbyssiniaLady on 29 Jan 2022, 14:39, edited 5 times in total.

Digital Weyane
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Re: The importance of the Somali Sea

Post by Digital Weyane » 25 Jan 2022, 02:18

<<ኡኖኣ ትግራይ ገዲፋ ሓውቲ ኡኖኣ ሶማልያ ትናፍቕ!>> ይብላ ነበራ እምበይተይ አረጋሽ ኻምዙይ እንትሪኣ።

<<ሰማይ ዓንዲ የብሉ ዓድዋታይ ጁንታዋይ ዓዲ የብሉ!>> ምስላ ኣቦዋት ትግራይ።

በላዒ ውዳቕ ዓድዋታይ ጁንታዋይ <<ዓዲ የብሉ ዓውዲ የብሉ>>፣ ሰጥለበጥ ሸልመጥመጥ ሾርመጥመጥ ኡላበለ ዝነብር ፍንፉን ዘርኢ። :evil:

Somaliman
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Re: The importance of the Somali Sea

Post by Somaliman » 25 Jan 2022, 05:24

These days, it's only in a few places where you can find beaches with sparkly crystal-clear water and blue ocean, the rest having murky, greyish, and dirty beaches with puddle-like water!

AbyssiniaLady
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Re: The importance of the Somali Sea

Post by AbyssiniaLady » 25 Jan 2022, 19:41

Sea turtles.

The longest recorded distance travelled by a sea turtle was a staggering 3,979 km (2,472 miles), from the Chagos Islands to the sandy shore of Somalia in east Africa. a record breaking, The most important nesting beaches for turtles in the Indian Ocean lies in Somalia, Horn of Africa, According to the United Kingdom and Australia university researchers.

The coast of Somalia is one of the most important turtle nesting grounds on a global scale, six of the world’s seven species of sea turtles live in Somali waters.


An aerial was attached to the back of the turtle by scientists using satellite technology to monitor the species habits.




Birds.

Somalia's coast is also home to the largest seabird colony in Africa, more than twenty five different species of seabirds breed on the Somalia coastline, It also an important feeding area for many other species, including whales.

Seabirds nest together in large groups on Somali beaches and feed on schooling sardine fishes.



Thousands of kilometers of unspoiled coastline, isolated and untouched by human activities.

Last edited by AbyssiniaLady on 28 Jan 2022, 21:16, edited 1 time in total.

AbyssiniaLady
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Re: The importance of the Somali Sea

Post by AbyssiniaLady » 28 Jan 2022, 17:58

Understanding Whales Migration

By Jane Spilsbury


Jane Spilsbury, the woman who helped reveal whale migration.


Spilsbury first moved to Watamu, home to the Watamu Marine National Park and Reserve, one of Kenya's first marine parks, when her husband Steve was offered a job working with the area's sea turtles -- the town's main beach is a critical nesting zone for endangered turtles.

The Spilsburys went on to help found the Watamu Marine Association -- a collaboration between hotels, local fishermen, divers and other members of the public -- in 2007.

Their aim was to simplify communication channels, as well as work on conservation, but the pair found they were constantly being asked about the country's marine life.

"People were asking us about our whale and dolphin situation in Kenya, and we just didn't know because the cost involved in researching mammals was way too expensive," she explains.

"So we spoke with some boat operators, and asked them 'when you take people out snorkeling what else do you see?' And they said 'well, there's dolphins out there too.'

The discovery of humpback whales in the area has been a game changer, but Spilsbury says she learned about them in a similar casual way.

"It was as simple as talking to a fisherman at the bar and asking if he'd seen any humpback whales and he said 'Sure, we've seen them for 30 years.'" she says.

Labeling themselves "citizen scientists," they began hitting the waters together in search of the migratory mammals, building a research database of their sightings.

"We didn't really know what we were doing," Spilsbury admits. "We weren't scientists, but we each had our own set of skills."

They were floored to discover a bountiful Indo-Pacific dolphin population -- and then came the humpback whale sightings.

Over time, they were able to discern that the whales were making an annual pilgrimage past Kenya between July and September, traveling from the waters of Antarctica to Somalia to reproduce.


As a result, Spilsbury was able to convince the Kenya Tourism Board to try out the marketing moniker "Twin Migration -- Whales to Wildebeest" for size, due to both occurring at the same time of year.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/ ... index.html


The whale follows a yearly migration pattern between Antarctica waters to their breeding grounds in pristine and unspoiled tropical Somali waters, they don't waste their time in South Africa dirty waters, Mozambique, Tanzania and the tiny Kenya dirty coastline.

From Antarctica to Somalia.

On their way to Somalia.





AbyssiniaLady
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Re: The importance of the Somali Sea

Post by AbyssiniaLady » 20 Feb 2022, 11:42

Somalia Government Wants United Nations Security Council Anti-Piracy Resolution To End

Posted Fri 3 Dec 2021

Today (3 December), the Security Council is scheduled to adopt a resolution authorising member states and regional organisations cooperating with Somali authorities to combat piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia for three months. The measures were last renewed in resolution 2554 of 4 December 2020.

The US, the penholder on the Somalia anti-piracy resolution, convened the first round of negotiations on 29 November and continued to engage in bilateral consultations with Council members in the following days. As no consensus transpired during the bilateral discussions, the US convened a second round of negotiations on 2 December (the originally planned adoption date) and rescheduled the vote for today. A revised draft passed a short silence this morning. It appears that the penholder and other Council members engaged with Somalia prior to and throughout the negotiation process.

Resolutions on combatting piracy off the coast of Somalia have traditionally enjoyed the full support of the Council. The first resolution on piracy in Somalia (resolution 1816 of 2 June 2008) and all subsequent resolutions on this issue have been adopted unanimously. Somalia also supported the anti-piracy measures.

This year Somalia appears to have advocated for the discontinuation of the anti-piracy measures, however. A few weeks before the mandate expiry date, Somalia apparently approached the penholder and other Council members, requesting that they consider not renewing the measures. In this regard, they apparently maintained that there had been a reduction in piracy-related events off their coast, that security responsibilities needed to be increasingly transferred to the federal government and that it was important to combat piracy by addressing its underlying socioeconomic causes. During last year’s adoption, Somalia issued a statement emphasising that “there has been a massive reduction in the number of piracy-related incidents in the past three years thanks to the Federal Government of Somalia’s efforts, in collaboration with the international community. For the first time in more than a decade, there is no single piracy-related incident off the coast of Somalia”.

In the past two years, the Secretary-General’s annual reports on piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia have indicated that no piracy events had been recorded. Issued on 3 November, this year’s report states that “the continued absence of successful piracy attacks off the coast of Somalia demonstrates the effectiveness of the measures applied by the Federal Government of Somalia, the shipping industry and the international community, including the Security Council and military and naval forces”. It nonetheless also notes that “the continued presence of pirate action groups and networks remains of concern and highlight that piracy has yet to be fully eradicated”. In the Secretary-General’s view, further efforts are needed to continue to address the root causes of piracy.

The negotiations on the draft appear to have reflected the penholder’s attempt to bridge Council members’ views and those of Somalia, especially given the need for Somalia’s consent to the measures and the importance of its cooperation regarding their implementation. Since the adoption of resolution 1816, the Council has repeatedly affirmed that the Somali government has to provide written consent prior to the adoption or renewal of anti-piracy measures. Regarding cooperation with the Somali government when implementing the measures, resolution 2554 “stresses the need for a comprehensive response to prevent and suppress piracy and tackle its underlying causes by the international community in collaboration with Somali authorities and other relevant actors”.

It seems that the US initially proposed a twelve-month renewal, which appears to have been supported by other Council members. As Somalia objected to this timeframe, the negotiations centred mostly around the length of the measures’ renewal. Following talks between Somalia, on the one hand, and the penholder and other Council members on the other, Somalia seems to have moved from its initial position of advocating discontinuation of the measures to suggesting a renewal of two months. The pen appears to have suggested six months as a compromise solution, which some Council members apparently found agreeable. Others, especially EU members of the Council, reportedly supported another twelve-month renewal. Following further negotiations, also in consultation with Somalia, the penholder placed a draft under silence featuring a three-month renewal. It appears that all members were willing to accept this.

Several multilateral and bilateral efforts are currently underway to implement the anti-piracy measures. Operation Atalanta, the EU anti-piracy naval operation off the coast of Somalia, which acts under the Security Council’s authorisation, is mandated by EU Council Decision 2020/2188 of 1 January to “deter, prevent and repress acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast”.

In addition to the EU Mission, the Combined Maritime Forces—a multinational naval coalition comprising 34 Member States, including Council members France, Norway, UK, and the US—are also conducting anti-piracy operations. Individual member states have also deployed vessels to ensure safe maritime traffic in the region.

*Post-script: On 3 December, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2608, renewing the anti-piracy measures off the coast of Somalia for three months. The EU Council members delivered explanations of vote, stating that a shorter timeline jeopardised planning and efforts regarding current and future maritime security set-ups (Estonia); that it risked creating a security vacuum (France); and that the shorter timeframe may threaten the continuation of the EU naval force deployed to the region, Operation EUNAVFOR Atalanta (Ireland).


https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/w ... tion-3.php

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Re: The importance of the Somali Sea

Post by AbyssiniaLady » 20 Feb 2022, 12:19

Somalia wants the European Union and the United States to reinforce the Somali national coast guard and navy, instead of policing the region, all right, Somalia also wants the text of any long-term United Nations resolution to notably reduce the perceived negative language towards Somalia.

But the United States and the European Union are determined to maintain their grip on Somalia's vast coastal waters, The so called western countries are using counter-piracy missions as a smokescreen to keep stealing Somalia's coastal resources, the European thieves have a new plan for the region, they are not going anywhere.

AbyssiniaLady
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Re: The importance of the Somali Sea

Post by AbyssiniaLady » 14 Mar 2022, 13:10

Operation ATALANTA stops anti-piracy missions off Somalia


by European Union Navy March 11, 2022 in Security





The United Nations Security Council has not extended UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2608 (2021) which, among other measures, allowed for the fight against piracy and armed robbery of International Forces at sea within Somalia's territorial waters (TTW), and stressed that these activities exacerbated instability by introducing "illicit money that fuels crime, corruption and terrorism".

In the rest of its wide area of operations, EU NAVFOR ATALANTA will continue to fulfil its missions, providing Maritime Security in the Western Indian Ocean. Operation ATALANTA remains committed to the respect the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and will continue countering piracy in the high seas.

EU NAVFOR Somalia Operation ATALANTA is the EU's longest running and extraordinarily successful operation. Over the past 13 years, EU NAVFOR ATALANTA has demonstrated the utmost effectiveness, commitment and dedication to achieve mandated objectives throughout the area of operations. Some of the most impressive figures of the Operation include:

Source European Union Navy

Somalia has finally put an end to European anti-piracy missions off its coastline 200 nautical mile maritime claims!!

AbyssiniaLady
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Re: The importance of the Somali Sea

Post by AbyssiniaLady » 10 Apr 2022, 17:59

Somalia launches new maritime facility to boost policing along coastline


Xinhua, March 31, 2022


MOGADISHU, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Somalia has inaugurated a high-tech maritime facility for the police to boost security along the coastline as the country continues to expand its blue economy, officials said.

UN Secretary-General's deputy special representative for Somalia, Anita Kiki Gbeho said the facility will provide an operational base from which the Somalia Police Force (SPF) can operate around Mogadishu Port and along the 3,300 km Somali coastline, as well as help build a long-term maritime law enforcement capacity.

"In recent years Somalia has expanded its maritime law enforcement capability, allowing the SPF to deliver safety and security around Mogadishu Port and along Somalia's coastline. This furnished and equipped base will allow the SPF to become increasingly more effective," Gbeho said in a statement issued on Wednesday evening.

She said the 3 million U.S. dollar facility funded by the European Union and developed by the UN will support the development of Somalia's ocean governance structures.

Gbeho said maritime security and law enforcement will need to continue playing an enabling role for Somalia to continue expanding its blue economy and benefit from wealth generating opportunities its vast coast offers.

The UN said the facility whose construction began in 2018, is made up of a furnished headquarters block with information technology equipment, a detention facility, a floating jetty and boat ramp, and an accommodation unit.

The facility has been equipped with maritime communications equipment to enable operational readiness, and 60 maritime law enforcement officers have been provided with training and workshops on maritime law enforcement, marine engineering and maritime communications.

UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)'s regional representative for East Africa, Neil J. Walsh said the facility will support Somalia's fight against transnational and maritime organized crime. Enditem


http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_W ... 141590.htm

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