On Wednesday, the Atlanta Jounral-Constitution wrote:
The U.S. Navy seized seven suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday after the Marshall Islands-flagged merchant ship Polaris sent a distress call saying gunmen had tried to board it from a skiff. The Bahrain-based 5th Fleet said the USS Vella Gulf raced to the scene and U.S. sailors captured the suspects, who were armed with AK-47s and RPGs. The alleged pirates will be handed over to Kenya, the Navy said.
Yesterday, the AP wrote:
For the second day in a row, the U.S. Navy has captured suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden after a merchant ship sent a distress call.
The Navy says its guided missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf intercepted and caught nine suspected pirates Thursday after the crew of an Indian-flagged ship said it had been fired on and people were attempting to board their vessel.
The Navy says its guided missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf intercepted and caught nine suspected pirates Thursday after the crew of an Indian-flagged ship said it had been fired on and people were attempting to board their vessel.
Today, CNN wrote:
A Russian heavy missile cruiser stopped three pirate ships off the coast of Somalia, and detained 10 pirates, according to a statement released Friday by Russian Navy headquarters in Moscow.
The cruiser, Peter the Great, halted two small high-speed motor boats and a mid-size, support vessel on Thursday, the Russians said.
"Ten pirates have been detained. All of them are citizens of Somalia," the press release obtained by CNN stated.
[...]
The Russians said a Russian helicopter Ka-27, which took off from the cruiser, had located two small boats, which were moving toward an Iranian fishing vessel at high speed last Thursday.
When those in the boats spotted the helicopter overhead, the boats began slowing down, then veered off toward their support vessel, which was adrift nearby.
The helicopter crew could see pirates in the two motor boats throwing weapons into the sea, and kept chasing the boats until the Russian cruiser arrived in the area.
The cruiser, Peter the Great, halted two small high-speed motor boats and a mid-size, support vessel on Thursday, the Russians said.
"Ten pirates have been detained. All of them are citizens of Somalia," the press release obtained by CNN stated.
[...]
The Russians said a Russian helicopter Ka-27, which took off from the cruiser, had located two small boats, which were moving toward an Iranian fishing vessel at high speed last Thursday.
When those in the boats spotted the helicopter overhead, the boats began slowing down, then veered off toward their support vessel, which was adrift nearby.
The helicopter crew could see pirates in the two motor boats throwing weapons into the sea, and kept chasing the boats until the Russian cruiser arrived in the area.
I'm sure there's a thousand-million more where those came from but it was still nice to hear the stories come one after the other this week.
Edited, Feb 13th 2009 10:36am by Jophiel