Headline: North Korean ship fights off Somali pirates: Somali pirates tried but failed to hijack a North Korean cargo ship when crew members fought back with improvised fire bombs and sped away, a maritime official said Tuesday.
The ship was adrift off the Somali coast near Mogadishu on Sept. 5 for engine work when the crew saw 10 pirates approaching in two speedboats, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.
The North Korean ship immediately started its engine and moved away, and the captain called the IMB for help when the pirates, dressed in military clothing, began firing rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, Choong said.
The crew fought back with improvised molotov cocktails — bottles filled with kerosene or similar fluid and set alight by a wick or rag. The crew also fired distress rocket flares at the pirates, and the ship escaped "after the captain increased speed," Choong said.
The captain later told the IMB a U.S. warship arrived at the scene, but the pirates had fled, Choong added. He could not confirm it was a U.S. ship.
Thoughts: Seems like a very odd place to be "adrift" if your engines are working. I wonder what the NK ship was doing where it was, when it was... I think there is more to this story than meets the eye. UPDATE: Yes, doing "engine work" - but such work as allows an immediate start and movement. I find it strange.
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