The Namibian warship, NS Elephant, spotted between Kunene River and Cape Fria. The illegal fishing activities of foreign flagged ship in Na...
The presence of the Namibian warship saw the fish pirates running away heading north in the off the coast of Angola. These areas are touristic places and only reachable by aircraft or four-wheel-drive vehicles, it is rarely for people to visit these areas. When the report and photos of evidence from the fishing pirates, caught in the act of stealing Namibian fish. The Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Mr. Bernard Esau, reacted with shock and said the actions of the Angolan illegal fishing vessel are tantamount to inviting war. “Not only is the vessel in Namibia’s territorial waters but as it can be seen it came within 200 metres from the main shore, the area that close to shore is where most fish species breed if they are trawling this so close to the shore they are destroying one of Namibia’s most valuable resources,” Minister Esau said. In 2017 in The Namibian Newspaper, Esau stressed that “The law will take its course on those who are apprehended,” he warned. According to Esau, 125 Angolan fishing vessels were either captured or tracked since April last year, compared to 129 the previous year.
The Namibian warship has seen in the area a day or two days after the minister commented on the photographic evidence. Although no official confirmation from the Defence about the deployment of the NS Elephant to the area where the foreign trawler was seen operating due to national security reasons, Colonel Petrus Shilumbu spokesperson for the Namibian Defence Force (NDF), was only said that the Namibian Navy has been going to sea to defend Namibia’s territorial waters since its inception. The Namibian Navy is mandated to conduct operations in defence of the Republic of Namibia and conducts operations other than war for supporting national interests.
NS Elephant (S11) is a Chinese-built multipurpose warship belong to Namibian Navy. It was Its operational deployment began in mid 2011 after officially handed over to the Namibian Navy on 03 July 2012.
Description: The ship resembles Chinese Haixun 01 patrol vessel. The NS Elephant has a large flight deck but no flight hanger. It has bunks to take on an additional 150 passengers. On its deck it may carry 6 x 12 feet containers of totaling 24 tonnes or six armored personnel carriers of 12 tonnes each. The superstructure has a fire control radar mounted for targeting the main 37 mm gun cannon. The two twin 14.5 mm guns are manually operated. The ship carries two large lifeboats amidships. There is also a crane on the port side and a smaller launch boat on the starboard side. It is powered by two caterpillar V16 diesel engines and has three generators and a fourth emergency power generator plus a bow thrust-er
Operational history: The ship operational specialty is used as a general EEZ patrol. The ship is also used as a supportive training base for junior sailors and officers. Elephant also participated in numerous training activities with the Marines and as well as with marine amphibious operations that being launched from the ship's deck. The Commanding officers of the Warship it started with Captain Nehemia Shikongo in 2012, then Captain Kristoph Moshoeshoe and followed Captain Gabes Iyambo who assumed the captain-ship on 24 May 2018 until present.