25.03.2005, 14:00
Zitat:RN SWOOPS ON SOMALI PIRATES 24.03.05 11:35Von RN News: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://navynews.co.uk/articles/2005/0503/0005032404.asp">http://navynews.co.uk/articles/2005/0503/0005032404.asp</a><!-- m -->
A COMBINED British and American raid on pirates in the Arabian Sea has saved the life of 23 Thai fishermen whose boat was hijacked by armed thugs.
A Sea King from 849 NAS operating from HMS Invincible – leading the RN’s Marstrike 05 task group in the Middle East – and a Lynx from HMS Montrose scoured 20,000 square miles of sea after the International Piracy Unit in Kuala Lumpur asked them to help out.
They eventually found two boats, one of them a fishing vessel crewed by Thais which had been seized off Somalia.
Boarding parties from destroyer HMS Nottingham and the US Coastguard cutter Munro then swept in on both vessels, released the captive fishermen and arrested three pirates, all Somali nationals, who carried four automatic weapons.
Task group commander, Rear Admiral Charles Style, said: “Piracy and other illegal uses of the sea are becoming increasingly commonplace. Such activity cannot be tolerated. The swift and successful conclusion of this incident demonstrates the coalition’s commitment to bringing security to the oceans.”