Somali Pirates at work: Early March Madness

From NATO Shipping Center, a list of early March attacks here::

March 04, 2011
Latitude: 1823N 06341E
Alert Number 109 / 2011
At 1020 UTC / 04 MAR / a merchant vessel is currently under attack by 1 skiff and 1 mothership in position 18 23N 063 41E
The vessel was fired upon by small arms and RPG.
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March 04, 2011
Latitude: 1835N 06347E
Alert number 108 / 2011
At 0922 UTC / 04 Mar / a merchant vessel is currently under attack by 1 skiff in position 1835N 06347E

March 03, 2011
Latitude: 09 59N Longitude: 062 26E
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Alert number 107 / 2011
At 1122 UTC / 03 MAR / a merchant vessel was reported under attack by 2 skiffs in position 09 59 N 062 26 E.
Vessel was fired upon by RPGs and small arms.
***This vessel managed to evade hijack*** The Pirate action group is still in the area.
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March 03, 2011
Latitude: 1523N Longitude: 05204E
Alert number 106 / 2011
At 0840 UTC a merchant vessel was reported under attack by 2 skiffs in position 15 23 N 052 04 E.
4 POB each skiff. MV was fired upon by small arms.
***This vessel managed to evade hijack***
The Pirate action group is still in the area.
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March 03, 2011
Latitude: 1731N Longitude: 05732E
Alert number 105 / 2011
At 0615 UTC a Pirate Action Group consisting of 1 Dhow, white and black hull and 1 grey speed boat was reported at position 1731N 057 32E. Weapons were sighted.
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March 02, 2011
Latitude: 12 11N Longitude: 063 58E
Alert 104 / 2011
At 0752 UTC a motor yacht was reported under attack by pirate action group in position 1211N 063 58E
*** this vessel managed to evade highjack ***
The Pirate Action Group is still in the area
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March 01, 2011
Latitude: 02°24S Longitude: 046°07E
Alert number 102 / 2011.
At 1100 UTC / 01 MAR / a fishing vessel was reported under attack by 8 pirates/2 skiffs in position 02 24 S 046 07 E
Skiffs were reported to have blue and white hull. Small arms and RPG were sighted.

***This vessel managed to evade hijack*** The Pirate action group is still in the area.

The March 2 yacht attack may correlate to the events described at gCaptain:

Private security firm Naval Guards Ltd successfully rescued their Dutch clients on board M/Y Capricorn after it had been overrun by pirates in the central Arabian Sea yesterday. The crew of the 21-meter M/Y Capricorn had contracted Naval Guards Ltd to provide armed escort for their eastbound trip from Djibouti in the western Gulf of Aden, through the Arabian Sea.

***

After a fierce exchange of gunfire between the pirates and the escort vessel, there were no injuries reported on either side, and only minor damage to the vessels themselves. With a clear firepower advantage however, the Naval Guards quickly gained control of the situation and the pirates gave up.

"The pirates are becoming more aggressive”, Jakobssen explained. ”Our team was on board a grey ship with military markings in very close proximity to the Capricorn. These pirates were likely on their way home empty-handed and desperate for whatever they could get.”

UPDATE: Report of another thwarted pirate attack:

According to Lars Steen Rasmussen - the managing director of Nordana, the ship’s owner - this was the first time the company had posted guards on a ship.

“We chose to do it this time because it’s a slow-moving ship and the clearance to the waterline is relatively low,” he said.

Because the ‘Brattingsborg’ is registered in Singapore, it did not require permission from Danish authorities to carry armed guards. However, the Danish Shipowners’ Association is reportedly negotiating with the Justice Ministry for permission to carry guards on Danish-flagged ships.

“The attack failed because the guards returned fire,” said association vice-president Jan Fritz Hansen. “That goes to show how necessary it is that we get an agreement about armed guards in place in a hurry.”

The guards were taken on board as the ship passed through the Suez Canal on its way to India carrying a cargo of steel.