Russians rescue oil tanker from 11 pirates
Source: Agencies |
May 7, 2010, Friday
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RUSSIAN special forces were dropped onto a disabled oil tanker taken over by Somali pirates and freed 23 Russian sailors early yesterday, the commander of the EU Naval Force said. Ten pirates were arrested and one was killed.
The raid on the Liberian-flagged ship Moscow University came 24 hours after pirates took the ship over and the crew locked itself in a safe room. The vessel is carrying 86,000 tons of crude oil worth about US$50 million.
The special forces had been aboard the Russian anti-submarine destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov, which rushed to the scene after Wednesday's seajacking. A helicopter was dispatched to investigate and was fired on by the pirates, EU Naval Force said. The Russian warship returned fire on the pirates, it said.
Special forces troops on the helicopter abseiled down to the tanker, Rear Admiral Jan Thornqvist, force commander of the EU Naval Force, told an Associated Press reporter aboard the Swedish warship Carlskrona, which yesterday was 800 kilometers west of the rescue site and sailing toward Somali waters.
Ten pirates were detained and one pirate was killed, the Russian state news agency ITAR-Tass cited Vladimir Markin as saying. Markin is the spokesman for Russia's Investigative Committee. There were wounded pirates, he said without giving details.
Russian officials were preparing for the pirates to be sent to Moscow to face criminal charges, Markin said.
The crew of the Moscow University had previously told officials they believed the pirates were trying to enter the engine room, Thornqvist said. The ship had been disabled and was not moving.
Safe rooms, where crews seek shelter, are typically stocked with food, water and communications equipment and have reinforced doors that can only be opened from the inside.
The ship's owner, Novoship, said the decision to free the ship was made knowing "that the crew was under safe cover inaccessible to the pirates and that the lives and health of the sailors was not threatened by anything."
Commander John Harbour, a spokesman for the EU Naval Force, called the rescue "an excellent operation all around." He said the EU Naval Force had been working at a tactical level with the Russians, and that EU Naval Force personnel talked to the Russian crew by radio. He said the EU had offered support to the Russians.
The attack occurred about 800 kilometers east of the Somali coast as the Moscow University sailed from the Red Sea to China, the ship's owner said.
International military forces have been more aggressively combating piracy. EU Naval Force ships are disrupting pirates and destroying their ships while United States warships have fired on pirates and destroyed their boats.
The raid on the Liberian-flagged ship Moscow University came 24 hours after pirates took the ship over and the crew locked itself in a safe room. The vessel is carrying 86,000 tons of crude oil worth about US$50 million.
The special forces had been aboard the Russian anti-submarine destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov, which rushed to the scene after Wednesday's seajacking. A helicopter was dispatched to investigate and was fired on by the pirates, EU Naval Force said. The Russian warship returned fire on the pirates, it said.
Special forces troops on the helicopter abseiled down to the tanker, Rear Admiral Jan Thornqvist, force commander of the EU Naval Force, told an Associated Press reporter aboard the Swedish warship Carlskrona, which yesterday was 800 kilometers west of the rescue site and sailing toward Somali waters.
Ten pirates were detained and one pirate was killed, the Russian state news agency ITAR-Tass cited Vladimir Markin as saying. Markin is the spokesman for Russia's Investigative Committee. There were wounded pirates, he said without giving details.
Russian officials were preparing for the pirates to be sent to Moscow to face criminal charges, Markin said.
The crew of the Moscow University had previously told officials they believed the pirates were trying to enter the engine room, Thornqvist said. The ship had been disabled and was not moving.
Safe rooms, where crews seek shelter, are typically stocked with food, water and communications equipment and have reinforced doors that can only be opened from the inside.
The ship's owner, Novoship, said the decision to free the ship was made knowing "that the crew was under safe cover inaccessible to the pirates and that the lives and health of the sailors was not threatened by anything."
Commander John Harbour, a spokesman for the EU Naval Force, called the rescue "an excellent operation all around." He said the EU Naval Force had been working at a tactical level with the Russians, and that EU Naval Force personnel talked to the Russian crew by radio. He said the EU had offered support to the Russians.
The attack occurred about 800 kilometers east of the Somali coast as the Moscow University sailed from the Red Sea to China, the ship's owner said.
International military forces have been more aggressively combating piracy. EU Naval Force ships are disrupting pirates and destroying their ships while United States warships have fired on pirates and destroyed their boats.
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