Navy prevents attack by Somali pirate 'mothership'

A pirate attack in the Indian Ocean has been foiled by the Royal Navy.

RFA Fort Victoria, which is on patrol near Somalia and is part of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, a civilian-manned fleet which provides support for the Navy, forced pirates to abandon an attempt to hijack cargo ships.

The Somali pirates were planning to use a hijacked ship called the Liquid Velvet to launch further attacks on shipping in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.

The Liquid Velvet, a Greek-owned chemical tanker, which had a crew of 23, was hijacked in November. On Tuesday, the pirates began moving the ship towards the Gulf of Aden and into international waters.

Fort Victoria, which is operating as part of Nato’s Operation Ocean Shield in the Indian Ocean, cut off the vessel’s progress when it was 90 miles from the coastline and forced it to return to Somalia.

Fort Victoria approached the Liquid Velvet under cover of darkness, before circling the vessel at speed. The ship’s Lynx helicopter was also used. Fort Victoria then followed Liquid Velvet as she retreated towards Somalia.

Source: The Telegraph