I guess the pirates needed a new mother ship.21/04/2012 22:35:34 Location: [035] GOA - ARABIAN SEA 17 nm south of RAS FARTAK 15 20 N 052 12E Latitude: 15 20 N Longitude: 052 12 E Alert Details: At 1700 UTC / 21 APR 12 / a fishing vessel was hijacked by pirates in position 15 20 N 052 12E 17 nm south of Ras Fartak.
On Saturday 14 April Spanish warship ESPS Reina Sofia, who is now operating as part of the EU's counter-piracy mission, Operation Atalanta, stopped a Yemeni dhow that was suspected of carrying armed Somali pirates. The French Air Force Awacs E3F, FS Dixmude and her helicopters, as well as an Australian Maritime Patrol and Reconnaisance Aircraft (MPRA) contributed to this operation. As a result they were able to successfully release 4 innocent Somali crewmen who were being held as hostages onboard.
EUNAVFOR photo
Spanish Marines boarded the dhow that was believed to have been used as a mother ship and related to several pirate attacks in the area. After transferring the 20 men from the dhow to Reina Sofia, four of the men were quickly identified as innocent Somali crewmembers and they are now being cared for by the Spanish crew. Two Yemeni crew had reportedly already been let go by the suspect pirates after the dhow was pirated in late March.
EUNAVFOR photo
As a result of her actions, Reina Sofia took out the threat of 16 pirates and their use of the dhow as a mother ship to attack merchant shipping in the Indian Ocean. The dhow and the Somali crew can now return safely to the homeport in Yemen.
As neither the crew of the dhow, nor the master of the attacked merchant vessel filed a complaint, the 16 suspected pirates will be released.
Somali pirates hijacked a Yemeni fishing vessel in the pirate-infested waters of the Arab Sea, Yemen's Interior Ministry said Monday.Well, it being Yemeni and all, you know that it wasn't taken for the big ransom it would bring.
"The vessel owned by Yemeni fisherman Ahmed Nasser ... has reported a crew of nine Yemeni fishermen on it," the ministry said in a statement on its website. It provided no further information on the condition of the crew.
At least two Somali fishermen were wounded in the old coastal district of Gumbah, which is 200km east of Bosasso, the capital of Bari region in the semi-autonomous state of Puntland, RBC Radio reports. The strike which occurred on midnight of Monday targeted boats on the coast of the district wounding two people, Gure Ali Daad who is the permanent secretary of the district commissioner told RBC Radio by phone. “The air strike begun late on the night about 1.00 p.m (local time), two planes targeted fisher men returning from the coast. Two fishermen were injured.” Gure Ali Daad said. “We heard at least two bombardments, we could not identify where the planes from, because they had no lights.” He added. Mr. Daad denied that his district hosted the pirates operating in Puntland coastal districts where they usually hold ships and receive ransom money.Interesting. Odd, but interesting. More in this AFP report:
Last month the European Union authorised its navies to strike Somali pirate equipment on land, with a mandate for warships or helicopters to fire at fuel barrels, boats, trucks or other equipment stowed away on beaches. However, it was not possible to establish which nation the aircraft belonged to, and the EU force have not yet said they have ever launched such an attack. A spokesman for Atalanta, the EU anti-piracy mission, said it was "not involved whatsoever" and declined comment on who might be behind the strike. The United States also operates unmanned drones flying over the Horn of Africa nation, and have reportedly struck suspected Al-Qaeda allied fighters in southern Somalia.
The Danish navy captured 16 Somali pirates and freed 12 captives when it intercepted a "mothership" vessel off the Horn of Africa, it said on Thursday.
The Danish warship Absalon, serving in NATO's counter-piracy mission Ocean Shield, stopped the vessel off the east coast of Somalia on Wednesday, boarded it without resistance, arrested the suspected Somali pirates and found the hostages.
"The operation was carried out without use of armed force," the Danish navy command said in a statement.
"As the Absalon approached the ship and hailed it, they surrendered right away," navy spokesman Mikael Bill said.
Held by the pirates were three Iranians and nine Pakistani hostages, the original crew of the vessel, a Jelbut-type fishing boat seized by pirates about a month ago, Bill said.
Update: NATO image of Jelbut-style fishing boat
Two hostages were killed and 16 others freed when a Danish warship intercepted a cargo vessel that had been hijacked by pirates off Somalia's coast.Good on the Danes. Sorry for the hostage life loss, but the Somali pirates are to blame for hijacking the ship in the first place. From the Danish Navy (Google translate version):
Navy spokesman Kenneth Nielsen said Tuesday that 17 pirates were detained in Monday's anti-piracy operation. He declined to give the nationalities of the hostages.
Danish ship HDMS Absalon had been following the hijacked vessel for several days, Nielsen said. The cargo ship had been used as a mothership from which pirates sailed out in smaller boats to attack other vessels.
HDMS Absalon
He said HDMS Absalon intervened when the vessel tried to move away from the coast on Monday. "(It) stopped the mothership before it could become a threat against the shipping on the open sea."
ABSALON has stopped another pirate mothership The ship was stopped by ABSALON yesterday. The Danish warship Absalon has on 27 February 2012 halted a pirate mother ship. During the incident two hostages on pirate mother ship killed. ABSALON has for several days been watching a pirate mother ship off the Somali coast. Sunday night attempted pirate mother ship to sneak away from the coast. ABSALON was inserted and stopped the mother ship before it could pose a threat to shipping on the high seas. As neither the call, or cry unto warning shot to bring the pirate mother ship to a stop, was ABSALON strength of the NATO head allowed to firing equipment aboard the mother ship piracy, with a view to bringing the vessel to a stop. This fire was on board suspected pirates to surrender. ABSALON crew could then take control of the pirate mother ship. On board the pirate mother ship took ABSALON crew 17 suspected pirates and 18 hostages from the mother ship's original crew. Two hostages were found badly injured, and even with a rapid assistance from ABSALON doctor stood their life to save. The circumstances that led to the two hostages were killed is not yet known. Military Auditor Corps investigates the facts surrounding the incident. Danish authorities will, in line with the actual course of events relating to the hijacking of the mother ship clarified assess the possibilities to prosecute suspected pirates. Anyone from ABSALON's crew is in good shape.
Dnaish Navy photo of pirated vessel
The M/V LIQUID VELVET, the previously pirated vessel that may have been used as a mothership, was disrupted by naval Counter Piracy forces in the evening of 10 January. This mothership is no longer considered a threat to merchant shipping.
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| RN Lynx helicopter |
Nice.Fort Victoria, which is operating as part of Nato’s Operation Ocean Shield in the Indian Ocean, cut off the vessel’s progress when it was 90 miles from the coastline and forced it to return to Somalia. Fort Victoria approached the Liquid Velvet under cover of darkness, before circling the vessel at speed. The ship’s Lynx helicopter was also used. Fort Victoria then followed Liquid Velvet as she retreated towards Somalia.
RFA Fort Victoria
Orange hull, white superstructure, king post forward, crane amidships, tanker.M/V LIQUID VELVET, a previously pirated vessel may be used as a mothership. It was last reported making way 120nm off the coast of Somalia in vicinity of 10 22N 058 33E. This vessel was pirated on 31 Oct 11, and neither the vessel or crew have been released from pirate control. Details can be found under Alert 004.Masters are advised to exercise extreme caution when navigating through this area, and maintain maximum CPA with any ship acting suspiciously. Please see photo of M/V LIQUID VELVET at left.
VESSEL IS HEADING NORTHEAST TOWARDS THE ARABIAN SEA IN POSITION 10-58N 053-23E AT A SPEED OF 7.6 KTS.
ALERT 004/2012 10/01/2012 10:25 10.97 53.38
Suspicious Activity SUSPECT VESSEL - POSSIBLE MOTHERSHIP
A piracy alert has been raised by the Maritime Security Centre.
Date of alert : January 10, 2012
Alert type : Suspect Vessel
Location : SOMALI BASIN 10 58 E 053 23 E
Latitude : 10 58 N
Longitude : 053 23 E
---WARNING WARNING WARNING---
Alert number 004/2012
At 1024 UTC / 10 JAN 12 / the pirated MV LIQUID VELVET could be acting as a mothership and was reported in position 10 58 N 053 23 E
Vessels are advised to exercise extreme caution when navigating within 100 nautical miles of the position given in this report and maintain maximum CPA with any ship acting suspiciously.
"I am also heartened to hear from EUNAVFOR that both pirate dhows which have put to sea so far this season have been put out of service, one of them at the bottom of the sea. And also that a pirate whaler acting as a supply ship was also sunk last week through a joint EU/NATO operation Rules of Engagement are already strong, and the naval operations will be given the legal authority they need to deliver effective action. This Government is 100 percent behind a more robust response to piracy, and we are glad to see the Royal Navy, EUNAVFOR and NATO leading the way."Well, if they can't get to where the ships are, it just might tend to slow them down.
