Fugitive Pirates Reach Somalia and Evade Capture

Spanish frigate ESPS Victoria alongside the hijacked dhow (EUNAVFOR) — Spanish frigate ESPS Victoria alongside the liberated dhow (EUNAVFOR)

After a multiday pursuit and standoff, naval forces with EUNAVFOR Operation Atalanta boarded a dhow that had been used as a mother ship for multiple pirate attacks on merchant shipping. The pirates escaped the scene, and European forces will work with Somali authorities to pursue their capture and prosecution.

The Somali pirate action group had captured the Iranian-flagged dhow last month, and they had been menacing international shipping since the beginning of November. Using the small vessel as a base of operations on the high seas, the pirates used skiffs to pursue merchant vessels nearby. They boarded the product tanker Hellas Aphrodite on November 6 at a position about 560 nautical miles southeast of Eyl, Somalia, an ambitious long-range action in the center of the Indian Ocean. The pirates approached Hellas Aphrodite and opened fire with small arms, then climbed aboard. The crew of the Aphrodite remained hidden in the vessel's citadel until Spanish frigate ESPS Victoria arrived the next day and drove the attackers off. All crewmembers were safe, the pirates escaped the scene, and Victoria departed to follow the dhow.

A combined task force of Indian Navy and EUNAVFOR assets tracked and reached the dhow on November 8-9. The responders did not conduct an opposed boarding, as the pirates were holding the dhow's crew hostage and threatened to hurt them, according to maritime risk consultancy Vanguard Tech. The threat to shipping was contained, but the standoff continued.

On November 11, EUNAVFOR reported that the dhow had made it all the way back to the northwestern coast of Somalia, where the pirates abandoned it and successfully escaped. The dhow's crew were unharmed, and evidence was recovered from aboard the vessel.

"The Pirate Action Group (PAG) operating in the area has been definitely disrupted," EUNAVFOR said in a statement. "Atalanta continues working with the Federal Government of Somalia and Puntland Federal Government to locate and apprehend the alleged pirates."