Three pirates killed as war stepped up

The war on piracy in the Gulf of Aden began in earnest when British Navy forces killed three hijackers on the day another Dutch ship docked in Mombasa to deal with the menace.

The three, two Somalis and a Yemeni, were shot on Wednesday off the southern coast of Yemen.

The Royal Netherlands Navy ship docked at Mombasa port on Thursday morning. It has been tasked to escort vessels ferrying World Food Programme relief aid to Somalia in the next four weeks.

Courtesy call

The ship’s commander, Peter Reesink, paid a courtesy call on the deputy mayor John Mcharo, where he outlined their mission in the region.

HLMNS De Ruyter has 166 sailors, 25 of them women. It will also escort ships from Dar er Salaam to Mogadishu and other Somali ports before Nato naval ships take over from December 10.

Responding to a request from the UN, Nato defence ministers recently authorised a fleet of vessels to help protect WFP ships carrying relief supplies to Somalia.

In the past, the WFP ships were protected by Canadian military vessels under a temporary arrangement that expired last month. French, Danish and Dutch frigates had also protected deliveries for more than seven months until June this year.

“De Ruyter is 144 metres long and has missiles and other heavy armoury,” said Mr Reesink. The ship also has three small fast boats.

“The ship left the Netherlands on 15th September and has been in Mediterranean waters,” said Mr Reesink.

The pirates were killed during an attempted hijacking of a Danish cargo ship. It happened as another group hijacked a Turkish chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden.

The pirates seized the Karagol 26km off the coast of Yemen as it was sailing to India with 4,500 tons of chemicals on Wednesday.

Was seized

The tanker, with 14 Turkish crew members, was seized only two days after pirates hijacked a Philippines registered chemical tanker with 21 Filipino crew on board.

In the shooting incident, a British Royal Navy warship and a Russian frigate successfully rescued the MV Powerful belonging to Denmark.

They shot two people believed to be members of a Somali pirates gang that had twice attempted to board the Danish ship from a Yemeni dhow.

According to the BBC and Britain’s Ministry of Defence, officers from HMS Cumberland and the Russian frigate Neustrashimy responded to a distress call from the Danish ship after the pirates fired at the ship and twice attempted to board it.

“Two foreign nationals believed to be Somali pirates, were shot and killed in self defence. A Yemeni national was also found injured and later died, despite receiving emergency treatment from the ship’s doctor,” an MoD spokesman said.

The incident occurred about 60 nautical miles south of the coast of Yemeni inside the Maritime Security Patrol Area.

Boats from the two warships, which are part of a flotilla of frigates deployed in the Gulf of Aden to fight piracy were sent, but the pirates fired at them.

The shooting happened when the British seamen who were on smaller boats attempted to stop the Yemeni dhow and board it. Russian Navy spokesman Igor Dygalo said that the Neustrashimy had also tried to rescue the Danish vessel.

Somali pirates on Monday hijacked a Philippine chemical tanker with 23 crew members despite the presence of US, European Union and NATO warships. International Maritime Bureau official Noel Chung confirmed the hijacking.

The ship was sailing to Asia when it was attacked and seized by pirates armed automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. The recently deployed Indian Navy on Monday thwarted an attempt by pirates to hijack a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden.

The 38 tonne MV Jag Arnay owned by a Mumbai based company, Great Eastern Shipping Company, was surrounded by pirates who tried to board it about 60 nautical miles off the coast.

However, the crew raised the alarm and commandos aboard a helicopter from Indian warship INS Tabar, which was 25 nautical miles from the chemical tanker, responded and repulsed the pirates.

Eighty-three ships have been attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden and 33 have been hijacked.

Currently 12 ships including the MV Faina, which is carrying tanks and other weapons, are still being held by pirates along with their over 200 crew members.

Meanwhile, 51 days after the weapons-laden Ukrainian ship MV Faina was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, the vessel and its 20 crew are still being held.

The pirates spokesman, Mr Sugule Ali, has said that ransom negotiations between them and the ship owners, Tomex Team, are still going on.