EU / Piraterie

Sev­en sus­pect­ed pirates cap­tured and detained in Gulf of Aden by EU NAVFOR war­ship

Sev­en sus­pect­ed pirates were cap­tured today by the EU NAVFOR anti-pira­cy task­force after a Greek bulk car­ri­er was attacked by a skiff this morn­ing in the Gulf of Aden. The sus­pects are cur­rent­ly being held on board the Swedish war­ship HMS MALMO.

The HMS MALMO pur­sued the skiff after pick­ing up a dis­tress call from the Greek ves­sel which was fired at by the pirates with small arms and rock­et pro­pelled grenades. The MALMO repelled the attack by fir­ing warn­ing shots and flares at the skiff and send­ing a ves­sel pro­tec­tion detach­ment to board it.

The detach­ment found weapons, glob­al posi­tion­ing satel­lite equip­ment, grap­pling hooks and bar­rels of fuel on board the skiff. The sev­en pre­sumed pirates are cur­rent­ly being held on board the HMS MALMO for fur­ther investigation.

The Swedish frigate HMS MALMO joined Oper­a­tion EU NAVFOR ATALANTA, the EU task force patrolling the Gulf of Aden and the Soma­li Basin, in mid May. Twelve ships and two Mar­itime Patrol Air Sur­veil­lance air­crafts are cur­rent­ly tak­ing part in the Operation.

Source: EU Council