The Hr Ms Tromp returns home, mission accomplished, 73 pirates disarmed

(BRUSSELS2) The Dutch ship Hr. Ms. Tromp arrested and disarmed a new group of 12 suspected pirates on Friday, the Dutch Ministry of Defense announced. The pirates, aboard 2 skiffs and a mother ship, were spotted by the military 16 nautical miles from the ship. The on-board helicopter Lynx went to the spotting and was able to observe ladders on board - typical pirate equipment. Tromp's inflatable boats with Marines on board then took the direction of the skiffs. And stopped them. Shortly after it was the turn of the mother ship.

The Marines discovered that the suspects had thrown overboard anything that could serve as evidence of a future act of piracy. In accordance with the procedures, for lack of flagrante delicto (and of host country to welcome suspects without patent proof), the pirates were released, with enough food and fuel to reach the Somali coast. And the other two boats destroyed.

According to balance sheet drawn up by the Dutch Ministry of Defense, the ships participating in the operation Eunavfor Atalanta have disarmed in the last weeks, 14 pirate groups (143 pirates) in all, the Dutch Hr. Ms Tromp Participating for half in this assessment with 73 disarmed pirates (of this number, however, none has been brought to justice).

Le Hs Ms Trump now returns to the Netherlands and will be replaced in the Indian Ocean by the Hr Ms Johan de Witt, one of the two amphibious ships of the Dutch Navy and the largest (together with her sister ship, the Hr Ms Rotterdam). Served by a crew of around 140 sailors, it can house a marine infantry battalion and equipment transport. It has a hospital and can deploy up to six helicopters.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)