Somali Pirates: Early Report - Hijack thwarted by "citadel" and Russian Navy

Yesterday the report was of a ship hijacked in the Red Sea - see here. A new report says the ship is free of pirates and sailing on its own.

NATO reports: "UKMTO reports that the Vessel that was attacked 10 Sept 11 is now safe, and is continuing navigation." No further details available yet.

More in this from Shiptalk.com:

. . . [T]he crew had locked themselves in the citadel the pirates could not gain full control of the vessel and this gave the Russian frigate “Severomorsk” time to act as it headed to the stricken vessel.

RFS Severomorsk (EUNAVFOR photo)

According to EUNAVFOR, RFS Severomorsk is performing escort duties in the Red Sea:

The Russian Federation Northern Fleet ASW frigate RFS SEVEROMORSK is currently escorting the M\V Medi Chennai which is carrying 45,936 metric tons of wheat for the World Food Programme (WFP) through the Red Sea to Djibouti.

An additional tentative article from SomaliaReport, which notes the increased penetration of pirates into the Red Sea.

Russian "handling" of pirates usually does not work out well for the pirates.