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Russian, British ships repel Somali pirates

A Yemeni-flagged dhow is pictured in the Gulf of Aden before boats launched from the British warship HMS Cumberland were sent to intercept it on Tuesday. PHOTO: AP

Russian and British forces teamed up with boats and helicopters to rescue a cargo ship from an attempted hijacking in the Gulf of Aden, then chased down the attackers and killed two of them in a gunbattle, military officials say.

Russian Navy spokesman Captain Igor Dygalo said the Russian missile frigate Neustrashimy and the British frigate HMS Cumberland each sent up a helicopter against the pirates as they tried to commandeer a Danish vessel on Tuesday. It was the first action by a Russian warship sent to Somalia.

“The pirates tried to hit the ship with automatic weapons fire and made several attempts to seize it,” Dygalo said on Wednesday on state-run Vesti-24 television.

The British military said the Cumberland then sent boats to circle a Yemeni-flagged dhow — a traditional wooden vessel — that apparently had been involved in the attack on the Danish-registered MV Powerful and refused to halt.

The crew of the dhow opened fire at the boats, but surrendered after the British crews returned fire in self-defense, the military said. A British crew boarded the dhow and found that two suspected pirates, believed to be Somalis, had been shot and killed, it said.

A Yemeni man was also found wounded and later died despite emergency treatment, the British military said. It said it was unclear whether his injuries were a result of the firefight or a previous incident involving the pirates.

Russia sent the Neustrashimy, or Intrepid, to protect Russian ships and crew off Somalia’s coast after a Ukrainian freighter with three Russians aboard — and loaded with battle tanks — was hijacked in September. Its captain has died, and the 20 other crew are still being held aboard the MV Faina.

Attacks have continued virtually unabated off Somalia, which has had no functioning government since 1991.

Meanwhile, South Korea plans to send a destroyer to the lawless waters off Somalia, where several of its merchant ships have been hijacked by pirates, a report said yesterdayday.

Yonhap news agency quoted an unnamed senior official as saying the government would seek parliamentary approval for the deployment during its current session, which ends on Dec. 8.

“The South Korean warship, if dispatched, will cooperate with the US 5th Fleet in Oman and the French navy in Djibouti,” the official was quoted as saying.

The ship would be loaded with missiles and other weaponry and accompanied by Navy special forces in case of an emergency situation, the official said.

The defense ministry declined to confirm the report, saying consultations were still under way with other government agencies.


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