EUNAVFOR Spanish Warship disrupts suspected pirates North-West of Seychelles.
March 30, 2011 - 16:25
Early morning on 28 March, the Seychellois flagged fishing vessel reported that a whaler and a skiff had approached her in a suspicious manner with automatic weapons and a Rocket Propelled Grenade(RPG) clearly visible. The EUNAVFOR warship immediately made her way to the scene and launched her SH-60B helicopter to investigate further.
After 2 attempts by the Whaler to flee the scene, the helicopter was forced to fire warning shots in front of the vessel to make it stop. The occupants of the whaler were observed throwing items of equipment overboard just before the ESPS CANARIAS arrived. Having been stopped by the helicopter, the whaler and the skiff were boarded by a team from the Spanish warship and 11 suspected pirates detained. The whaler was taken alongside by the warship and the skiff was destroyed.
After presenting the case to the Seychellois authorities, it has been agreed to transfer the suspected pirates to the Seychelles for prosecution. These suspected pirates, who were allegedly plying their trade against a Seychellois vessel, will now face Seychellois justice.
EUNAVFOR Somalia – Operation ATALANTA’s main tasks are to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the World Food Program (WFP) and vessels of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). EUNAVFOR also protects vulnerable vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, deters and disrupts piracy. EUNAVFOR finally monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia.
Latest News
-
Operation ATALANTA bids farewell to Deputy Commander Rear Admiral Corrado Campana
-
THE IMPORTANCE OF AIR RESOURCES IN OPERATION ATALANTA
-
ESPS Castilla rejoins Operation ATALANTA full-speed
Press releases
-
Force Commander EU NAVFOR Somalia meets with his CMF counterpart to coordinate and de-conflict after approval on new Operation Atalanta mandate
-
Operation ATALANTA´s new mandate enters into force on 1st of January 2021. New tasks will reinforce the EU NAVFOR’s counter-piracy core responsibilities.
-
EU NAVFOR ATALANTA PROVIDES SUPPORT TO UNODC YEMEN COAST GUARD REGENERATION STRATEGY