The tanker used as a mother ship by the pirates is neutralized

(BRUXELLES2) In the absence of a small dhow, the pirates seemed to have brought out the heavy artillery. The maritime headquarters of the coalition of anti-piracy forces of NATO had also issued the alert on Tuesday. The MT Liquid Velvet, a Greek chemical tanker captured at the end of October, could be used as a mother ship. It had in fact left its anchorage on the Somali coast and was heading east. One of the last sightings carried out by plane gave it 120 miles from the coast, at 10° North and 58° East. Tuesday evening (January 10), the forces of the anti-piracy coalition canceled their alert. The threat of MT Liquid Velvet has been averted. Any attack from the tanker was foiled. The intervention of the RFA Fort Victoria, a British support ship, which is part of NATO's Operation Ocean Shield, was decisive. " RFA Victoria approached under cover of darkness says Holly Watt who is aboard the ship in the Telegraph. " The Lynx helicopter was also used. And he forced the Liquid Velvet back to Somalia ". For Captain Gerry Northwood, head of the British anti-piracy group: “ Somali pirates aboard the Mv Liquid Velvet would have posed a real threat to the security of international shipping in the Indian Ocean ».