Naval Guards’ Operations Chief, Thomas Jakobssen, explained to gCaptain that the 42-meter escort vessel Marshal-5 had been shadowing the Capricorn at a distance of approximately 100m when both vessels were attacked simultaneously by the Somali pirates. Reacting quickly, Capricorn’s crew fled to previously rehearsed hiding spots on the yacht, buying them valuable time as their rescuer’s fought off the pirates.
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.
This story has not received much attention because of all the other news going on out there. But because this blog tracks the security contracting industry, to include maritime security contracting, this stuff is relevant and deserves some attention.
If you go to Naval Guard’s website and check out their Alerts section, you will see all of the attacks they have had to deal with the last couple of months. I am not sure if this incident below is the only one in which they had an exchange of gun fire with pirates, but it does highlight the danger these companies face out there.
Also, a hat tip to gCaptain for getting some clarification on the story. Take note of the effective use of safe rooms and armed security. Safe rooms alone will not save the day. That safe room will buy you time and safety until an armed guard force from a nearby escort ship can clear the vessel of these heathens. Or if you actually had the armed guards on the boat, they would be even quicker to respond to attacks and even prevent some because of how close they are to the action. (these escorts were 100m away, and this attack still happened, and pirates still boarded!)
The other thing to mention here is the type of attack that happened. The pirates attacked the escort ship and the target vessel at the same time (a swarm attack, a distraction move, desperation, ignorance, who knows why?). I am thinking that the pirates were either desperate, or they felt if they could board the target vessel, that a private guard force would not take the risk and further endanger the lives of the crew with a rescue assault. They thought wrong, and Naval Guards and their client had a plan and they were prepared for such an assault. But I don’t know everything about this, and it would be cool to read a full blown AAR on this incident.
I am also going to guess that they probably did not know the intent of this attacking pirate force until it was too late. The rules of engagement-the shoot no shoot scenario-the policy written up between client and escort are all at play here. It would be interesting to hear how these pirates were able to get so close and act so quickly–did the escort vessel not see it, or were they restricted by the ROE? Mind you, companies cannot go on the offensive, and can only be used defensively. So this might have been a factor in why the pirates were able to attack and board so quickly. Thanks to George for sending me this. –Matt
Armed guards open fire as ship attacked off Yemen
March 03, 2011
A maritime news portal says armed guards stopped an attack on a Danish-owned vessel when they exchanged fire with suspected pirates.
Maritimedanmark.dk says no one was injured on the Singapore-registered Brattingborg that has a Thai crew in Thursday’s attack.
Shipowner Lars Steen Rasmussen was quoted as saying it was the first time the company had armed guards on one of its ships. He could not be reached for comments.
The attack comes days after suspected Somali pirates captured a Danish yacht in the Indian Ocean.
Earlier Thursday, the head of a private security company said his guards retook a yacht from Somali pirates after the Dutch couple on board locked themselves in a safe room.
Thomas Jakobsson of Naval Guards said Thursday that six of his guards were accompanying the Capricorn yacht on a separate motorboat. Six armed pirates were able to get aboard the Capricorn but the Dutch couple barricaded themselves in the boat.
Jakobsson says his men had a brief exchange of fire with the pirates before retaking the Capricorn with no casualties on either side.
Story here.
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Yacht crew rescued from pirate attack by private security firm
From the gCaptain
March 3rd 2011
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.