Somali Pirates: UAE Special Forces Take Ship Back, Rescue Crew

Previous posts on the pirate attack here. Ship involved is MV Arrilah- I:

MV Arrilah-I

Special Forces rescue UAE ship from pirates :

UAE Special Forces stormed a hijacked Dubai-bound ship yesterday, rescuing the crew and arresting all the pirates who had seized it.

Special counter-terrorism units, with support from the Air Force and Air Defence, as well as the US Fifth Fleet, stormed the MV Arrilah-I, a bulk carrier en route from Australia to Jebel Ali, the Armed Forces General Headquarters said in a statement.

The ship was hijacked in the Arabian Sea, east of Oman, early on Friday.

The military said the vessel was now headed towards Emirati shores, guarded by UAE Special Forces. The pirates will be handed over to the Ministry of Interior once they arrive in Dubai.

The Armed Forces said the rescue showed the UAE's commitment to acting "firmly" in the face of piracy, adding that the country would "not succumb to such threats".

The 37,000-tonne ship is owned by the Abu Dhabi National Tanker Company and the National Gas Shipping Company, two subsidiaries of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc).

"We have been assured that all crew members are safe and in good health," the companies said in a statement on WAM, the state news agency, before the announcement that the rescue had been completed.

Well done, UAE! And the Fifth Fleet, too.