Somali Pirate Attack Thwarted When Warships Respond
A Somali pirate attack was thwarted when 14 Indian sailors aboard a cargo vessel contacted anti-piracy ships from the EU and NATO, sending warships to chase away the armed men.
The pirate attack incident took place Wednesday when 12 armed men attacked the vessel, causing Dutch and Swedish warships to respond. The pirates were able to hijack the ship after the crew fled, but they were quickly intercepted.
The pirates steered the ship toward the coast but abandoned it as they came under attack.
Pirate attacks were once more common in the waters off Somalia, where roving bands of armed men have taken over ships that traveled near the African nation. In the past these pirates have seized freight ships carrying tens of millions of dollars worth of oil, demanding millions in ransom.
The pirates at one time acted as a kind of coast guard for the African nation, keeping ships from illegally dumping waste in its waters in the absence of a formal military. Over time the ships began hijacking other passing vessels in order to collect extorted funds.
One of the most famous pirate attacks occurred in 2009 when pirates seized the MV Maersk Alabama and its crew members. The incident came to an end when NAVY Seals killed the hostage takers and freed the crew.
The story of the killed hostage takers is being turned in to a movie this year directed by Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum), and Tom Hanks has reportedly signed on to portray Captain Richard Phillips.
Phillips offered himself to the pirates in order to save the lives of his crew members, an incident imortalized in the book A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea.
Since the heydays of of illegal actions anti-piracy patrols and armed guards on ships have helped drastically lower the number of attacks. The EU Naval Force said there hasn’t been a Somali pirate attack that led to a successful hijacking since May 2012.
There were four pirate attacks this year, but none of them were successful.
