US Navy rescues ship attacked by pirates-captain
VICTORIA, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy rescued a 3,000-tonne cargo ship attacked by pirates off the coast of lawless Somalia, the vessel's captain said late on Monday.
In a spate of attacks along the unpatrolled waters off Somalia, gunmen stormed the United Arab Emirates-owned Al Manara last month, captain Deaa Naseh said.
U.S. sailors arrested and left two suspected pirates locked up aboard the ship, Naseh said, adding that it was unclear what action would be taken against them.
After the rescue mission, the ship suffered engine failure and drifted for 15 days before being towed at Naseh's request by the Seychelles coastguard into the port of Victoria on Saturday.
"The attackers kept boarding and leaving the vessel at will going and coming back by smaller boats, but when the U.S. Navy personnel were about to board, the gunmen threw away their weapons into the sea," Naseh told Reuters.
Looking tired and weak, he said he used makeshift sails to reach the Indian Ocean island.
Last month the U.S. Navy captured a ship near the Somali capital Mogadishu with 10 pirates on board and 16 Indians believed to be hostages.
Under a $50 million deal signed with the Somali government in November, a U.S. marine security firm was tasked with ending piracy in the waters off Somalia, where dozens of hijackings and attempted seizures have been reported over the past year.
The wave of attacks has badly shaken merchant shipping which relies heavily on international trade routes that snake along Somalia's coastline -- the longest of any African country.
In a spate of attacks along the unpatrolled waters off Somalia, gunmen stormed the United Arab Emirates-owned Al Manara last month, captain Deaa Naseh said.
U.S. sailors arrested and left two suspected pirates locked up aboard the ship, Naseh said, adding that it was unclear what action would be taken against them.
After the rescue mission, the ship suffered engine failure and drifted for 15 days before being towed at Naseh's request by the Seychelles coastguard into the port of Victoria on Saturday.
"The attackers kept boarding and leaving the vessel at will going and coming back by smaller boats, but when the U.S. Navy personnel were about to board, the gunmen threw away their weapons into the sea," Naseh told Reuters.
Looking tired and weak, he said he used makeshift sails to reach the Indian Ocean island.
Last month the U.S. Navy captured a ship near the Somali capital Mogadishu with 10 pirates on board and 16 Indians believed to be hostages.
Under a $50 million deal signed with the Somali government in November, a U.S. marine security firm was tasked with ending piracy in the waters off Somalia, where dozens of hijackings and attempted seizures have been reported over the past year.
The wave of attacks has badly shaken merchant shipping which relies heavily on international trade routes that snake along Somalia's coastline -- the longest of any African country.
posted by Marko at 2/14/2006 07:30:00 AM
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