News Blogmaritime piracy

The pirates lost 2 of their mother ships in two days

The Prantalay 14, spotted from an airplane (credit: Indian Navy)

(BRUSSELS2) In quick succession, the pirates lost two of their mother ships. We had already learned on Thursday of the "liberation" of the Tai Yuan 227. The Indian Navy went on the attack on Friday, sinking one of the vessels used, a Thai fishing vessel, the Prantalay 14 (who had been captured almost a year ago, in April 2010). This illustrates a reinforcement of the tactics of the maritime forces present in the area. Following the recent resurgence of pirate successes, particularly in the Arabian Sea, the navies have taken a more offensive posture, aiming to neutralize mother ships.

A CGM ship chased by pirates

The Indian Navy was alerted on Friday morning (10:30 a.m. local time) by a call for help from a French container ship, from the CMA-CGM, the Verdi, which flies the flag of the Bahamas. He is pursued by two suspicious skiffs 300 miles west of the Lakshadweep Islands. The call is received from a Coast Guard Dornier aircraft. Seeing the plane overhead, the pirates halt their attack and rush back to the mothership. INS Cankarso, a fast vessel recently commissioned by the Indian Navy, arrives at the scene at around 17 p.m.

Mothership catches fire and sinks

The Indian ship is near the Prantalay. " Pirates do not answer radio calls on the international channel “says the Indian Navy. " A warning shot is fired in the bow of the ship. Pirates suddenly shoot. The navy responds ". Apparently the fire is well nourished. And the pirate ship catches fire. In question, " the large number of barrels of fuel ". The pirates and their hostages jump into the water. The sinking ship. INS Kalpeni of the Indian Navy and CGS Sankalp of the Coast Guard arrive as reinforcements. The Indians thus recover 20 fishermen (Burmese and Thai) who were held hostage as well as 15 pirates. These are stopped. We do not know, however, if there are missing.

Forward Watch Post in the Lakshadweep Islands

It should be noted that the Indian Navy has, since November 2010 and the resurgence of acts of piracy near India, strengthened its watch near the Lakshadweep Islands by installing an outpost of the coastguards.

Mother ships spotted

Pirates still have some resources. Several vessels captured, mainly fishing boats, are used as mother ships: the Aly Zoulfécar ou Zoulficar, which is in "activity" in the southern Indian Ocean, between Tanzania and Mozambique. THE Jin Chun Tsai 68 and Golden Wave (aka Geummi 305), as well as the Renuar and Mv Blida. And the pirates still have in their possession several fishing boats whose Prantalay 11 and 12.

Read also:

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

Comments closed.

s2Member®