HDMS Absalon (L16)
Posted on 03/02/2010 12:07:33 PM PST by Mount Athos
A NATO destroyer has sunk a pirate mothership in the Indian Ocean off the Somali coast after allowing the crew to leave, the alliance said Monday.
Shona Lowe, an anti-piracy spokeswoman, said the HDMS Absalon — the Danish flagship of the three-vessel NATO flotilla in the region — disrupted a pirate operation by "scuttling" one of the large boats used by Somali gangs to transport attack teams to piracy hunting areas far off the coast.
The mothership was fired on and sunk after its crew members were transferred to a smaller boat in tow, which was allowed to return to the mainland, she said.
"NATO is not in the business of firing at skiffs with pirates in them," Lowe said in an interview from NATO's naval headquarters in Northwood, near London.
Lowe said no further details were immediately available.
The action occurred Sunday in the Indian Ocean, rather than the adjacent Gulf of Aden where most pirate attacks take place.
Piracy in the region soared as the rule of law crumbled in Somalia and organized criminal gangs ramped up the lucrative business of boarding ships in the Gulf of Aden or the Indian Ocean — one of the world's busiest sea lanes — and holding them, their crews and cargos for ransom.
The Somali government, besieged by an Islamic insurgency, does not have the forces to neutralize the pirate bases that flourish along its 1,900-mile (3,100-kilometer) coastline.
NATO maintains a three-ship flotilla — which also includes the frigates USS Boone and the British HMS Chatham — to fight the pirates. The European Union has a separate, six-ship squadron in the region as part of its anti-piracy mission known as Operation Atalanta, as do other nations such as the United States, India, Russia, and China.
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They’ll be back....Might as well kill the pirates NOW...Save the trouble to come later....
I knew it wasn’t an American ship - the blood sucking shyster lawyers would still be deliberating if they could shoot.
This is the solution
We have ships there too, let's get with the program USA government
HDMS Absalon (L16)
This policy should be changed immediately. Blow a couple of dozen of these pirates into chum and the rest will get message.
lol @ mothership
Where’s a photo of Independence Day when we need it?
...
NATO maintains a three-ship flotilla — which also includes the frigates USS Boone and the British HMS Chatham — to fight the pirates.
I think NATO is missing the point here.
if a US vessel fired those rounds, the Captain would be court martialled. Thats how our Government works these days.
I'd like to see the pirates "scuttled" with no survivors.
That's too bad.
They will again proclaim Obama the greatest military genius in the last 50 years.
I added walktheplank in keywords...
wow what boat is that?
Who’s stolen ship did they scuttle?
With the millions those pirates have gotten from ship owners...they will just buy themselves a better boat and be back at it..
Shudda turned them all into shark bait.
KEEL HAUL THE VARMINTS!
I don’t know, but it’s an Iowa class. Maybe the New Jersey.
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