Royal Navy captures pirate vessel

Suspected ‘mother ship’ believed to have been involved in the hijacking of an Italian cargo ship earlier this month A “pirate mother ship” believed to have been used as a base for attacks on merchant vessels off Somalia has been captured by the Royal Navy. An assault was launched on the wooden dhow vessel after Royal Navy ships tracked it down in the Indian Ocean, the Ministry of Defence said. The boat, which had been hijacked along with its 20-man Pakistani crew, is suspected to have been used as a base for attacks. The MoD said that four men allegedly involved in hijacking an Italian cargo ship, the Monte Cristo, on 11 October, surrendered and a cache of weapons and stolen equipment was recovered. Royal Marines and Navy personnel from HMS Somerset and Royal Fleet Auxiliary Fort Victoria were involved in the operation, the MoD said. The four suspects surrendered and were later handed to Italian authorities on suspicion of involvement in the attack on the Monte Cristo, which was rescued by British, US and Italian forces. Captain Rod Yapp, who commanded the boarding party, said there were indications that more hijackings were being planned. “I think that if we hadn’t disrupted this group of suspected pirates, it is quite possible that they would have attacked another merchant vessel.” Somali pirates have been involved in numerous attacks on shipping off the Horn of Africa over the past decade, often demanding multimillion pound ransoms to free vessels and their crews. Piracy at sea Somalia Africa Barry Neild guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 21, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.