Six weeks ago, an Iranian fishing vessel, Al Mulahi, was seized by Somali pirates. Thanks to a quick-thinking captain and crew, the men aided in their own rescue by dumping fuel and requesting help over the ship’s radio. The captain spoke in a language that the pirates did not understand, so they did not know that he was summoning help! Despite their suspicions of piracy, the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service was not able to intervene until this week when the captain officially asked for aid. Otherwise, they might have sparked an international incident given our relations with Iran and the fact that the U.S. has been warned not to return to the region by senior Iranian defense officials. It was a coup for the international piracy task force given that fifteen Somali pirates were captured, along with their floating base and weapons cache. The best news is that none of the thirteen hostages were harmed. The war on piracy continues…
Just hours after I posted this pirate report, this was released by ABC News:
Earlier today, some Somali pirates got a little too greedy and attacked the Spanish warship serving as the flagship for the European Union’s fleet of ships carrying out a counter-piracy mission off of Somalia.
Needless to say, it wasn’t a fair fight.
At first light Thursday, the Spanish warship ESPS Patino had just completed escorting a ship carrying food aid into the Somali capital of Mogadishu. In addition to a counter-piracy effort, the EU’s main mission is to escort freighters carrying food from the World Food Programme.
That’s when a skiff carrying six pirates sped towards the warship and the pirates began to fire their light-caliber weapons at the ship in an attemp to board it.
The Patino’s crew immediately began to fire back in self-defense and launched the ship’s helicopter.
The pirates realized they were outgunned and broke away from the attack, but eventually surrendered to the helicopter. But only after first throwing their weapons, ladder and fuel barrels overboard.
Somali pirates often dump their weapons into the ocean in an attempt to avoid detention.
Five of the pirates were injured and two required medical treatment on board the Patino. The crew of the Spanish warship is also looking into the pirates’ claim that another pirate was lost overboard during the attack.
Taking on a warship might sound like a unique event but, amazingly, this isn’t the first time that Somali pirates have taken on a warship.
In October 2009, a group of pirates attempted to take on the French warship BCR Somme about 250 miles off the coast of Somalia.
They met a similar fate to the pirates involved in today’s incident and were detained after their unsuccessful attack.
(For more on modern day piracy, go to the main menu “Pirates” and click on “All About Piracy” and “Pirates Today.”)
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