  We present a study of $U(1)$ gauged modification of the 2+1 dimensional
planar Skyrme model with a particular choice of the symmetry breaking potential
term which combines a short-range repulsion and a long-range attraction. In the
absence of the gauge interaction the multi-solitons of the model are aloof,
they consist of the individual constituents which are well separated. Peculiar
feature of the model is that there are usually several different stable static
multi-soliton solutions of rather similar energy in a topological sector of
given degree. We investigated the pattern of the solutions and find new
previously unknown local minima. It is shown that coupling of the aloof planar
multi-Skyrmions to the magnetic field strongly affects the pattern of
interaction between the constituents. We analyse the dependency of the
structure of the solutions, their energies and magnetic fluxes on the strength
of the gauge coupling. It is found that, generically, in the strong coupling
limit the coupling to the gauge field results in effective recovering of the
rotational invariance of the configuration.
