Piracy & Ship Attacks May 25, 2010

French warship returns fire

Friday May 21, EU NAVFOR warship FS NIVOSE returned fire after being shot at while escorting two merchant vessels outside Mogadishu harbor.
Upon the warship’s return of fire the attack immediately stopped.

FS Nivose was escorting MS ALPHA KIRAWIRA and PETRA 1 and was one mile outside of Mogadishu when small arms impacts were observed 10 meters from the starboard side of the ship. After firing warning shots from a heavy machine gun the small arms fire ceased. Nivose proceeded to escort the two merchants ships to Mombasa.

U.S. Navy destroyer locates hijacked Panamanian ship

The U.S. Navy destroyer, USS MCFAUL discovered the Panamanian-flagged M/V ICEBERG I on May 19 with as many as 50 pirates and more than 20 crew members on board. Before Wednesday the location of the M/V Iceberg I was previously unknown.

The ship's name had been painted over with the name "Sea Express." The crew onboard reported to the Navy destroyer that several pirates were onboard and were heavily armed.

The McFaul shadowed the ship for 26 hours before it reversed course and began heading for the Somali coast. The U.S. Navy is making the safety of the crew their first priority.

Alleged Somali Pirates Face Trial In The Netherlands

Five alleged Somali pirates, aged 25 to 45, will face trial today (May 25) in the Netherlands.

The suspects were arrested Jan 2 last year onboard a high-speed boat loaded with firearms. The pirates were allegedly on their way to hijack the Dutch-Antilles-flagged SAMANYOLU in the Gulf of Aden, but were intercepted by a Danish frigate before they could attack.

The trial is expected to last 5 days and judgment will be handed down June 16, if found guilty the men face 9 to 12 years in jail.