November 19, 2008

Someone finally grows a pair and does something

From the UK Guardian:
Indian navy destroys pirate ship after coming under fire
Somali bandits terrorising the busy shipping routes around the Horn of Africa suffered a rare setback when an Indian warship destroyed a pirate "mothership" after coming under fire in the Gulf of Aden.

The Indian navy said that its frigate, one of the numerous international warships dispatched to patrol the waters around the Horn of Africa, had approached a suspicious vessel yesterday evening. It turned out to be a previously captured ship being used by pirates as a base from which to launch their speedboats far out to sea.

"The INS Tabar closed in on the mother vessel and asked her to stop for investigation," an Indian navy spokesman said today. "But on repeated calls, the vessel's threatening response was that she would blow up the naval warship if it approached."

After a heavy exchange of fire the mothership was destroyed. Two speedboats escaped.

The firefight came on a day when pirates successfully seized three other ships; a Greek bulk-carrier, a Thai fishing boat and an Iranian-chartered cargo ship carrying 36,000 tonnes of wheat from Germany. The hijackings, which followed the capture on the weekend of the Sirius Star, the Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million worth of oil bound for US, sent a powerful message of the pirates' potency.
Good job! The actions of the "international community" in paying the ransom and bribes to these islamist thugs only serves to encourage them. Maybe this will make them stop and think for a bit. Religion of peace my ass... Posted by DaveH at November 19, 2008 11:34 AM