Thursday, December 3, 2009

Dutch Navy Arrests Somali Pirates After Attempted Cargo Ship Hijack

Via BBC -

he Dutch navy has arrested 13 Somali pirates who attempted to hijack a cargo ship south of Oman.

The EU anti-piracy task force Navfor says the cargo ship - called MV BBC Togo - had barbed wire defences and held off an attack by two fast skiffs.

The Dutch warship Evertsen later found a dhow with two skiffs fitting the description in the area.

A boarding team arrested the pirates, seizing machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, ladders and grappling hooks.

The pirates may be handed over to Kenya or the Seychelles for prosecution, says the Dutch defence ministry.

[...]

Navfor is one of several international naval forces patrolling the seas off Somalia to try to prevent the hijacking of ships using the vital sea routes. Nato and the US also lead task forces.

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In May 2009, a leaked European military intelligence document indicated that some Somali pirates were being directed to their targets by a "consultant" teams in the UK.

The report said that pirate groups have "well-placed informers" in London who are in regular contact with control centres in Somalia where decisions on which vessels to attack are made. These London-based "consultants" help the pirates select targets, providing information on the ships' cargoes and courses.

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