More Piracy Near Somalia

**davidbfpo** · 03-25-2010

There's always another story with Somali piracy, the pirates detained yesterday by a Spanish warship have now been released as the attacked ship crew (and PMC) refused to be witnesses.

I assume those released will have a safe journey home.

Link:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8586729.stmand a more analytical article:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8585967.stm

**davidbfpo** · 03-30-2010

Pirates seized a cargo ship on Monday with 24 crew members off the port of Aden, Yemen...A spokesman for traders in Mogadishu, Somalia, said that seven other ships had been seized in the Indian Ocean over the weekend.

Link:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/wo...efs-Yemen.html

I am prepared to accept the first seizure, so close to Aden beggars belief; the 'traders' claim is unverified and is not reflected in other news coverage.

**davidbfpo** · 04-05-2010

A South Korean navy destroyer is pursuing a South Korean-owned oil supertanker believed to have been hijacked by pirates off Somalia's coast...The 300,000-ton-class Samho Dream was about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) southeast of the Gulf of Aden at the time of the apparent hijacking..

Link:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...ss_world/wires

The BBC link has a map:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/8603098.stm

**Rex Brynen** · 04-07-2010

Not the first time that a "safe room" onboard has made all the difference...

Dutch marines storm cargo ship seized by Somali pirates
Commandos rescue crew by abseiling on to German vessel from helicopter

By Tony Paterson in Berlin
The Independent, Wednesday, 7 April 2010

The Dutch navy claimed a rare victory in the war against international piracy yesterday after marines abseiled from a helicopter to seize control of a captured container ship following a shootout with Somali hijackers.

One Dutch marine was slightly injured during the storming of the German ship MS Taipan, which had been boarded early on Monday by 10 Somali pirates from small boats armed with machine guns. The 15-man German crew of MS Taipan had radioed for help after taking refuge in a secure cabin on board the ship.

The Dutch frigate Tromp was called to the scene and caught up with the MS Taipan some 560 miles off the Somali coast because the German crew had managed to shut down the ship's engines. The vessel was almost at a standstill as the pirates boarded, the Dutch navy said.

What followed was the stuff of a James Bond film: after the Dutch frigate attempted to negotiate with the pirates but failed, a helicopter gunship from the Tromp took off and machine-gunned the bridge of the MS Taipan. Minutes later the helicopter hovered over containers on the bow of the MS Taipan allowing a unit of heavily armed marines to abseil on to the deck, storm the vessel and retake it.

Despite the damage to the ship's bridge, the MS Taipan was then able to continue its voyage from the Kenyan port of Mombasa to Djibouti. The marines detained the 10 Somali pirates on board the ship.

**davidbfpo** · 10-15-2010

In a wide ranging article on the PLAN (Chinese Navy), in an IISS Strategic Comment, there is an excellent review of their activity and lessons learnt:

...since December 2008 it has deployed naval vessels to the multinational anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden. Each four-month rotation usually consists of two destroyers or frigates and one replenishment ship.

The navy has gained experience from the deployment and has surmounted significant logistical problems. The first flotilla suffered from a shortage of fresh food because it did not have a supply port. Unlike Western vessels, which put ashore on average every 10–14 days, the first flotilla remained at sea for the whole rotation, eventually jeopardising the health of the crew and the flotilla's effectiveness. In addition, its handling of the first few pirate attacks was clumsy and poorly coordinated because the PLAN had not established effective rules of engagement.

By the second and third rotations, China had established arrangements for resupply ports. Chinese vessels now put in at ports such as Djibouti, Salalah in Oman and Aden in Yemen. China's task force has also begun to participate in monthly 'shared awareness and deconfliction' meetings at which navies exchange operational information. The PLAN flotillas have participated in joint exercises and officer exchanges, and have been keen to gain experience of anti-piracy tactics from other navies.

Link:http://www.iiss.org/publications/str...aval-strategy/

**JMA** · 10-15-2010

Originally Posted by Rex Brynen

Not the first time that a "safe room" onboard has made all the difference...

Dutch marines storm cargo ship seized by Somali pirates
Commandos rescue crew by abseiling on to German vessel from helicopter

By Tony Paterson in Berlin
The Independent, Wednesday, 7 April 2010

OK, so how do they get off the pile of containers and onto the deck now?

...on second thoughts... what are they aiming at? Is this a Photoshop creation?

**Dayuhan** · 10-16-2010

Originally Posted by JMA

OK, so how do they get off the pile of containers and onto the deck now?

...on second thoughts... what are they aiming at? Is this a Photoshop creation?

Even from the perspective of a non-military guy it seems odd that everyone in the picture is looking in the same direction... seems like possibly a bad practice if there's a possibility of a bad guy in the other direction, but WTF do I know?