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| Africa Horn |
| Naval force seizes nine pirates in Gulf of Aden |
| 2009-02-13 |
| A multinational naval force seized nine suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden on Thursday after receiving a distress call from an Indian merchant vessel, the U.S. Navy said. "The guided missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf intercepted and apprehended nine suspected pirates today in the Gulf of Aden," the U.S. Fifth Fleet said in a statement. An Indian ship, Premedivya, had sent out a call to all ships in the area, reporting it had come under attack by a small skiff and that suspected pirates were attempting to climb on board, it added. First anti-piracy attacks After inspecting the skiff of the suspected pirates, teams from Vella Gulf and the guided missile destroyer USS Mahan found weapons and a rocket propelled grenade launcher, the statement said. The task force has now detained 16 pirate suspects in two days--its first such actions against those behind a spate of ship hijacks that has raked in millions of dollars in ransom payments and driven up insurance costs. On Wednesday the U.S. Navy said it had arrested seven suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden after a Marshall Islands-flagged ship sent a distress call to say pirates had tried to force their way on board. Pirates attacked more than 130 merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden last year, an increase of more than 200 percent on 2007, according to the International Maritime Bureau which tracks piracy and shipping security issues. Vella Gulf is part of the new counter-piracy multinational task force, CTF 151, operating in and around the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. More than 150 suspected pirates were arrested by naval patrols in the Gulf in 2008. Heavily armed pirates operate high-powered speedboats and sometimes hold ships for weeks before releasing them for large ransoms paid by governments or ship owners. Somali pirates only days ago freed a Ukrainian ship they had held since September with battle tanks and other weaponry on board after receiving a ransom of more than three million dollars. The release of the ship and its crew of 20 seamen after 134 days marked the end of one of the longest and most dramatic sea-jackings in recent years. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 I agree, OS. Secondary choice of punishment - drag them behind the stern on long ropes attached to the neck. Hopefully some hungry shark will remove the need to drag them back aboard. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2009-02-13 12:11 |
| #1 Yardarm, rope, pirate. Some assembly required. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-02-13 01:11 |