Excellent. This is yet again the kind of stuff that will give today’s pirates a pause next time they want to attack a boat. What I would like to know is what weapons and tactics these guys were using? Because other security details on boats could be learning from these incidents, and improving their own operations based on this information. So if anyone reading this that is intimately involved with EU NAVFOR or the company providing the security detail on this boat, please speak up. (or contact me through the FJ contact page)
Now the only down side in my view, is that why was there only one guy killed and why was he killed with just ‘small caliber’ ammunition? Does that mean that the security detailed showered these boats with 9mm bullets, fired from one or two pistols, and that this whole thing was pure luck that they were able to actually kill one of these guys or stop the attack? Or did they have sufficient fire power to deal with these thugs? My guess is that they did not have sufficient fire power, because if they did, there should have been more dead pirates.
I also think the pirates probably would have ran off after the first assault, if they did come up against sufficient fire power. But I am not going to monday morning quarterback this too much, because this security detail still kicked ass. Bravo to them, and bravo to the EU NAVFOR task force for quickly responding to the distress call. Quick Reaction Forces will be essential for these private security details who are doing the best they can with what they got out there. Sending a helicopter gunship is a good call, or sending whatever they can that is fast and lethal is absolutely vital if they want to keep up a good record of combating pirates and protecting ships. –Matt
Edit: 03/25/2010 – And the very next day, all six pirates were released because no one wanted to make statements. This catch and release crap has got to stop. From the bickering about armed security on ships, to this pathetic releasing of pirates back into the wild, is all just mind numbingly stupid. Read the rest here.
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Pirate Dies in Attempted Hijacking – EU NAVFOR Detains Pirate Action Group
March 24, 2010
by EU NAVFOR Public Affairs Office
Early on the morning of Tuesday 23 March, an EU NAVFOR warship received a distress call from a merchant ship off the Somalia coast and proceeded at high speed to assist.
As previously reported, the Panamanian-flagged cargo ship, MV ALMEZAAN, en route to Mogadishu, was under attack from pirates. An armed private vessel protection detachment on board the ship returned fire, successfully repelling the first attack, but the pirates continued to pursue. A second attack was repelled and the pirates fled the area.
The EU NAVFOR frigate ESPS NAVARRA, from the Spanish Navy, was dispatched by the Force Commander, Rear Admiral Giovanni Gumiero of the Italian Navy, and raced to the scene of the incident. She launched her helicopter, quickly locating the ALMEZAAN and the pirates’ boats, known as skiffs. When the suspects failed to heed the helicopter’s instructions to stop, warning shots were fired by the aircraft, after which a team from NAVARRA boarded a skiff.
There were three boats, comprising one mother ship and two pirate skiffs. In the first skiff they found three suspected pirates and, in the second, three suspects and a fourth individual, who had died. The body has been transferred to NAVARRA, and an investigation indicated that the individual had died from small calibre gunshot wounds. The mother ship has now been destroyed and the remaining six suspects have been taken onboard the NAVARRA.Earlier this week the Spanish ship provided assistance to the crew of an Iranian dhow who had been attacked and robbed by pirates. An EU NAVFOR boarding party provided water, food and fuel to enable the crew to return home safely.
EU NAVFOR Somalia – Operation ATALANTA’s main tasks are to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the ‘World Food Program’ (WFP) and vessels of AMISOM, and to protect vulnerable ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean and to deter and disrupt piracy. EU NAVFOR also monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia.
Story here.