Piracy & Ship Attacks--March 23, 2010
Latest reports on pirates and ship seizures.
• Pirates Take Turkish Ship
Somali pirates seized a Turkish ship and its 21 crew in the Indian Ocean.
The 35,000-tonne, Maltese-flagged MV Frigia was attacked in waters between Somali and India, and 400 nautical miles outside the heavily patrolled Navfor corridor. The ship appeared to be heading west toward a known pirate port along the Somali coast.
MV Frigia was sailing east from Port Said to Thailand when the attack took place.
• Fishing Boat and Crew Rescued After Pirate Attack
European Union naval forces rescued an Iranian fishing boat crew Saturday who were left to die after pirates attacked their vessel, tied the crew up, robbed them and left them at sea to parish.
The Spanish warship Navarra rescued the UAID 400 and its13 crew members, who were left without food, water or fuel after pirates attacked days before.
Navarra's helicopter located the vessel early Saturday morning after being dispatched Friday. The crew was on deck, waving their arms and signaling for help as the helicopter approached. Upon boarding, the rescue team concluded the vessel's radio equipment was broken and mobile phones were not working.
Since it had been 4 days since pirates hijacked their vessel, the crew were drinking sea water because there was no food left on board. According to reports, pirates tied them up for 2 days without food or water and raided and stole the crew's possessions as well as depleting their food and water supply.
Navarra provided the crew with food, water and ample fuel to get to shore and all are well.
• Kenya Navy and Police Arrest Pirate Suspects
Eleven armed Somalis were seized by Kenyan security officers who were allegedly stealing fuel from a Kenyan fishing vessel on Sunday near Kiunda, north of Lamu, an area south of the Somali-Kenyan border.
Pirates neglected to notice one of the Kenyans sent a SMS message to a naval post at Kiunga that triggered an alarm response.
The pirates were reportedly arrested in Kenyan waters, even though the boundary between Kenya and Somalia is disputed, an exact position was not provided.
Sources say the suspects ran out of fuel at sea and hijacked a fishing boat and ordered the crew to sail to Somalia. One of the crew members made a phone call which led to the intervention by Kenyan officials based in Lamu.
• Italian Warship Frees Cargo Ship from Pirates
A NATO warship freed an Iranian cargo ship and its 19 crew after being seized by pirates five months ago.
Pirates seized the SAAD 1 and used it as a mothership for transporting attack skiffs and ammunition out to sea. The ITS Scirocco was operating in the waters around the Horn of Africa as part of the Operation Ocean Shield mission when it intercepted the cargo ship that was overrun with pirates.
ITS Scirocco chased the ship to the Somali coast last Wednesday, and the pirates fled.
The SAAD 1 sailed with the warship and was given fuel and help with repairs before it began its journey to home port with all crew safe on board.