Somali Pirates Apprehended, Skiffs Destroyed by Combined Maritime Forces (CMF)

October 18 - A group of Somali pirates were apprehended and their skiffs were destroyed by the Combined Maritime Forces ( CMF)  Counter Piracy Task force , CTF 151 in the Indian Ocean . The CTF 151 staff embarked on RFA Fort Victoria coordinated the maritime interdiction supported by HMAS Melbourne and ROKS Wang Geon from CTF 151, European Union flagship HMLMS Johan de Witt, and a Seychelles based maritime patrol aircraft from Luxembourg.

It is reported that the task force was on hot pursuit of the pirates after the pirates attacked and exchanged gunfire with the supertanker Island Splendor on Friday. The same pirates were reported to have attacked a Spanish fishing vessel 3 days later. The search was fruitful as the pirates were located some 500 nautical miles from the Somali coast.

A Seahawk helicopter from HMAS Melbourne guided the warship to the location of the pirates. After locating the perpetrators, the warship’s armed and highly trained boarding teams made the final approach to board and search the skiffs. They successfully apprehended nine pirates and later destroyed two skiffs and associated pirate equipment.