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Saturday, January 14, 2012

Somali Pirates: Royal Navy Nabs 13 and Mothership (U.S. Navy gets assist)

BBC News reports Royal Navy captures 13 Somali pirates:
Royal Marines apprehending pirates on dhow
RFA Fort Victoria and a US Navy vessel intercepted the pirates' boat, which had refused to stop despite warning shots from a Royal Navy helicopter.

Royal Marines in speedboats approached the vessel and boarded it, capturing 13 pirates and seizing weapons.
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This latest operation was carried out around dawn on Friday. Capt Shaun Jones RFA, commanding officer on RFA Fort Victoria, said: "To manoeuvre such a large ship at speed in close vicinity of a nimble dhow takes extreme concentration and skill; my team were never found wanting." Capt James Sladden, who commanded the Royal Marines boarding party, added: "The moment of going on board the dhow was tense as we knew there were pirates on board who had refused to stop despite our warning shots. "Through our weapon sights we could see there were about 13 pirates, mostly gathered in the area of the bridge. We quickly boarded and secured the vessel before mustering the pirates on the bow."
If they can't get to sea, they can't capture ships. Containment. See here, here and here and at the links therein. Perhaps this time . . .

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous10:40 AM

    Catch and release insures plenty of opportunity into the foreseeable future.

    ReplyDelete