Yemen Navy

Yemen's military consists of an army, navy, air force, and reserves. In 2007 total active troops were estimated as follows: army, 60,000; navy, 1,700; and air force, 5,000. The navy's inventory includes eight missile craft, six miscellaneous boats/craft, five inshore patrol craft, six mine countermeasures vessels, one landing ship (tank), two landing craft (mechanical), four landing craft (utility), and two support and miscellaneous tankers. The navy's major bases are located in Aden and Al Hudaydah; there are also bases in Al Mukalla, Perim Island, and Socotra that maintain naval support equipment.

In an effort to bolster Yemen's maritime security and establish a coast guard capable of stemming terrorist activities, the United States sent naval experts to train the new Yemeni coast guard and in 2004-5 donated 14 patrol craft to the coast guard. In 2005 an Australian company delivered 10 Bay class patrol boats to assist Yemeni government efforts to combat terrorism and illegal trafficking; the company will train crews to man the vessels.

Three state of the art Landing Craft Utility NS 717 Design were received by the Yemeni Navy. The Polnocny (or Polnochny)-class amphibious warfare vessels were designed in Poland, and built in Poland between 1967 and 2002. The name comes from the Stocznia Pólnocna shipyard (Northern Shipyard) at Gdansk, where they were built. In 2002, one ship of a modernised NS-722 design was built in Gdynia for Yemen. The Polnocny class ships are classified as medium landing ships in the Russian Navy, and are loosely equivalent to Western tank landing ships. They are equipped with a bow ramp that allows beach landings. This is part of a military logistic deal concluded by Yemen and Poland. In the function President Saleh delivered a speech highlighting the importance of building the navy to protect shipping.

Yemen Coast Guard Authority announced its desire to invite bidden to Tender no. (1/2009) for the Manufacture, Supply and operational familiarization of two patrol boats of22 metersin length'.Bidders who are willing to participate in this Tender have to submit written applications to receive Bidding Documents(BDs) for an amount 100,000YR (one hundred thousand Yemeni ryals) non-refundable.

CTF 151 is a multinational task force established in January 2009 by the CMF headquartered in Manama, Bahrain, to conduct counterpiracy operations under a mission-based mandate to actively deter, disrupt and suppress piracy, to protect global maritime security and to secure the freedom of navigation for the benefit of all nations. The number of military units assigned to CTF 151 is constantly changing as ships and aircraft from a variety of countries assign units to the task forces. Nations including the United Kingdom, Turkey, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Denmark, Singapore and the United States have conducted operations as part of CTF 151.

Piracy off the Horn of Africa is a threat to the security of all nations and requires an international solution. The presence of coalition naval vessels in the region demonstrates a commitment to regional security and stability. To continue to counter and deter piracy successfully, coalition efforts must be complemented by proactive measures by commercial shippers, regional governments and the international community.

On 27 April 2009 Yemeni special forces freed a Yemeni oil tanker seized by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, killing three pirates and capturing at least nine on board, a government official said. The vessel (GNA) was seized by Somali pirates off Yemen's coast Sunday but was empty of oil cargo. The deaths took to five the number of pirates killed as Yemeni forces battled for two days to take back the vessel. They were escorting the tanker to the Yemeni port of Aden on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. The tanker, with a 23-strong crew of which three are Indian and the rest Yemenis, has a capacity of 3,000 tons but was not carrying any cargo when it was seized. The pirates had briefly seized three other vessels earlier before Yemeni forces freed them, a Yemeni official said