Turkish freighter captured (two pirates injured?)
(BRUXELLES2) Wednesday morning around 5 am (GMT), the pirates started talking about them again. After nearly 30 weeks without capturing new boats, the pirates who recently emptied their "stock" (several ships including the Belgian Pompei have been freed in recent days) have returned to the assault and have taken a new hold.
A 24.000 ton Turkish freighter, the Horizon I, which was traveling from Saudi Arabia to Jordan and carrying sulphate was captured by pirates in the Gulf of Aden (1344N 05046E) while traveling in the corridor international. 3 men apparently on a fast boat managed to board the boat which includes 23 crew. The vessel was registered in the MSCHOA database according to Atalanta's PC in Northwood, which confirmed the capture (1). It is currently continuing on its way, according to a spokesperson for the company, permanently followed by a Turkish military frigate TCG Gediz (from NATO's SNMG2) ready to intervene.
(Game Update 9)
A second Turkish frigate, the Gaziantep, also follows the captured vessel as it heads for the port of Eyl.
Two of the five pirates were injured during the attack according to Ecoterra International which reports information from Puntland. They would have taken under the fire of an Indian frigate.
(1) “Today, July 8, at around 0530 (GMT) a Turkish bulk cargo ship, deadweight 34,173 tons, was hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden (1344N 05046E). The Turkish ship has a crew of 23 sailors.
