Latest piracy news (July 31, 2011) (updated)

(BRUSSELS2)

Esbern Snare soldiers in self-defense

During the incident which opposed the soldiers of the Esbern Snare, the Danish frigate involved in the NATO operation, to the pirates, on May 12, off the coast of Kenya, four pirates were killed (and 10 others injured ) during the recapture of the Jelbut 24, an Iranian ship used as a mother ship. The investigation carried out by the Ceopenhagen auditor on July 15 concluded that it was self-defense.

The MV Jubba XX free

The tanker Mv Jubba XX – flying the UAE flag – and its crew of 17 were released on Thursday (July 28). Puntland forces had tried, apparently without success, to regain control of the tanker while it was anchored off the coast of Bargaal according to the NGO Ecop-Marine. Pirate camps on land were also attacked. Following this attack, the MV Dover left anchor with the Danish hostages on board. But the testimonies seem contradictory, warns the NGO.

7 to 10 years in prison required for pirates in the Netherlands

The public prosecutor's office in Rotterdam (Netherlands) is demanding seven to ten years in prison against the five Somali pirates accused of having attacked the Choizil, a South African sailboat, and kidnapped two of its crew members in the Indian Ocean (a third was able to flee and be picked up by the French navy). The five pirates were arrested shortly after in mid-November by the military ship Amsterdam and then transferred to the Netherlands, under the law of universal jurisdiction which allows any court to prosecute these facts. Judgment delivered on August 12.

Read also:

• 5 more pirates will be tried in the Netherlands
• The South African skipper safe and sound. Tale of a hectic weekend

Security exercise in the Strait of Bab el Mandeb

Several French Mirages, two ships from the Turkish Navy and an Australian ship, the HMAS Toowoomba, conducted a maritime security exercise “Scimitar Exocet” in the Bab El Mandeb Strait on the weekend of July 22 and 23. The Mirages played the roles of the “bad” attackers against which the ships had to defend themselves. An exercise which also allowed the Australian Navy to intervene in the face of an "attack" by pirates. Hours before the exercise began, the Toowoomba received a call for help from a merchant ship, an Australian navy spokesman said. The Seahawk helicopter intervened and escorted the ship.

Iranian navy thwarts several attacks

The Iranian navy intervened in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, announced the IRNA agency, to free an Iranian cargo ship Hoda of a pirate attack. One of the pirates was killed, the others fled. The navy was already very present in this strait, where the pirates seem to have taken refuge during the monsoon period. One of his interventions took place on Wednesday afternoon (July 20), foiling an attack carried out by 7 pirate skiffs on the cargo ship Dandle. She had to intervene again a few hours later, following a new attack on the same boat. Thursday (July 21), it was the turn of the tanker abadeh to be the victim of an attack by 7 pirate skiffs, also foiled.