EMEA News
Cosco Asia: Group Warns of More Suez Canal Attacks
Al Furqan, the group claiming responsibility for an August 31 attack on containership Cosco Asia, has promised further attacks on ships traversing the Suez Canal, U.S. security firm Nexus Consulting Group (Nexus) has warned.
"We obtained a letter from the group in Arabic, which we had translated by a number of sources. In that letter they say there will not only be further attacks, but those attacks will be of greater intensity.", Nexus President Kevin C. Doherty told Ship & Bunker.
Video footage claiming to be of the Cosco Asia attack was subsequently uploaded to YouTube, and while there has not yet been an official comment on its authenticity, Doherty believes the footage to be genuine.
"We spoke to people in the area within an hour of the attack and the footage matches the description of what we were told," said Doherty.
Reuters reported that Egyptian authorities had arrested three people in connection with the attack, but Doherty warned that despite initially believing it to be an isolated incident, there is now an ongoing risk for the maritime community.
"This was a terrorist attack, and they are still out there," he said.
Nexus says it has also confirmed that the Cosco Asia attack was the second Suez attack in recent months, with an earlier attack taking place on July 29.
In response the incidents, Gulf Ship News reports today that sources within the Egyptian army have deployed a new network of motion sensitive, night vision capable cameras to monitor the entire 190 km long waterway.
In addition, aircraft equipped with "high tech cameras" are also said to be now patrolling the canal.
Egyptian soldiers also defused mortars and other explosives found on a railway line near the Suez Canal, the BBC reported Saturday.
