Thursday, November 25, 2010

British warship destroys Somali pirate 'mother-ship' vessel

British forces on patrol off the Somalian waters have destroyed a pirate vessel, according to NATO. The craft, a mother-ship, was spotted by a helicopter from HMS Montrose.


A NATO statement then said that snipers, "sank it with heavy machine gun fire in full view of the pirate camp." The boat was identified as the whaler from the MV Zouflecar. The vessel was seen acting as a pirate "mother-ship". Commanding officer on board the Montrose, Jonathan Lett said:

Our destruction of the whaler close to a known pirate camp has sent a message to the Somali pirates, that NATO and other coalition forces are willing to take the fight to them in order to prevent them attacking merchant ships

NATO, along with the aid of the European Union Navy Force, have intercepted several suspected pirates off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden over the past month, disrupting potential attacks and subsequent kidnappings, such as the British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler, who had been held by Somali pirates for over a year, as reported here in Digital Journal.

Sky News also report that the forces helped a Norwegian bulk cargo ship to escape an attack by pirates in the Indian Ocean.
The pirate mother-ship destroyed by the helicopter and in full view of the pirate camp had been taken by pirates on November 3. NATO had given the warship full permission to destroy the vessel, reports Herald Sun.

Source: www.digitaljournal.com

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