Wednesday - January 14, 2009

Conflicting Stories

Russian ship foils pirates
Posted: 01:28 PM ET

LONDON (CNN) — A Russian naval ship rescued a Dutch container vessel under attack by suspected Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, the head of the International Maritime Bureau said Wednesday.

Two or three pirate speedboats were chasing the Dutch ship, with the goal of boarding it, when the Russians intervened Tuesday, said Capt. Pottengal Mukundan, director of the International Maritime Bureau in London. He said the pirates fired two rocket-propelled grenades at the Dutch ship, but no injuries were reported.

The Russians chased one of the speedboats but the pirates got away, Mukundan said.

Russian navy thwarts pirate attack on Dutch ship

6 hours ago

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Russian warship helped foil a pirate attack on a Dutch container ship in the dangerous Gulf of Aden, a maritime watchdog and the Russian navy said Wednesday.

Six pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades Tuesday at the ship, which took evasive maneuvers while calling for help, said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting center in Malaysia.

The pirates chased the vessel for about 30 minutes in the waters off Somalia but aborted their attempt to board after a Russian warship and helicopter arrived, Choong said.

Russian navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo said a Ka-27 helicopter was sent from the Admiral Vinogradov warship on patrol off the Horn of Africa and fired at three suspected pirate speedboats that were trying to attack the Dutch ship.

He said three pirates were wounded.

Dygalo said one of the speedboats was halted near Yemeni waters and Russian teams from the Admiral Vinogradov boarded the other two, finding ropes with grappling hooks and gas canisters but no fishing equipment.

Russian navy foils attack on Maersk boxship

David Osler - Wednesday 14 January 2009
NAVAL intervention has foiled an attempted Somali pirate attack on Nedlloyd Barentsz, a containership operated by Maersk Line.

None of the 25 Dutch, Indonesian and Ukrainian seafarers onboard were harmed during the failed hijack.

The assailants’ intentions were frustrated after a helicopter sent from Russian frigate Admiral Vinogradov opened fire on pirate skiffs, wounding three men in the process. The injured pirates were subsequently captured and handed over to the Yemeni authorities.

According to the International Maritime Bureau, which confirmed media reports of the incident, a second naval vessel of undisclosed identity also gave assistance.

Nedlloyd Barentsz was said to be en route from Salalah in Oman to Saudi Arabia when the incident took place on Tuesday.

British ship escapes pirates with help from Russian warship: IMB

8 hours ago

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — A British ship came under fire in a pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden, but managed to escape after a Russian warship came to the rescue, a maritime watchdog said Wednesday.

The British-owned and Dutch-managed container vessel was chased for half an hour by the pirates, but managed to fend them off by increasing speed and making evasive manoeuvres.

“The container ship was attacked by at least one pirate boat with six pirates on board who fired two rocket-propelled grenades,” said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) piracy reporting centre.

The British ship radioed for help, and two warships from Russia and India responded. The Russian vessel reached the area first, and sent a helicopter to scare away the attackers, he said.

Russia warship saves vessel in Somali waters
Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:29:50 GMT
On Tuesday, a Russian warship deterred a pirate attack on a Danish vessel in Somali waters.
A Danish vessel has managed to escape an attack of Somali pirates with the help of a Russian battleship in the world’s hotbed for piracy. On Tuesday, the warship received distress signals from the Danish-owned and Dutch-managed container vessel Nedlloyd Barentsz which was being chased by a bandit speedboat.

Having come to the rescue, the warship was “able to follow the pirate boat which set course for the Yemen coast. When they entered Yemen waters the Russians had to stop following them,” AFP quoted an official with the ship’s owner A.P. Moeller Maerskan, Finn Brodersen, as saying.

So, what gives? CNN says the pirates got away clean. AP says they were shot up and captured. Lloyd’s, the shipping insurer, says they were shot up and captured. The fwench can figure out that the ship is British owned, but can’t figure out her name. And while they know that the Russians got some help from those trigger happy Indians, they don’t know anything about what happened to the pirates, even though they run a picture with the story of some pirates surrendering to a warship. Even the Iranians can figure out the name of the ship, but they think the pirates got away, I guess by claiming sanctuary in some holy islamic water. That works every time you know.

Unto me please give one break. You know as well as I do that this entire event is on at least 3 videos. One from the Russian destroyer (or battleship), one from the Indian ship, and one from the Dutch/British/unidentified container ship. And the pirates probably had their own camera, with an ocean going wifi link straight to YouTube. Somebody isn’t telling the whole story.

Um, you don’t think CNN is developing a pro-pirate media bias do you? It does rather look like they are filtering the news to make this a low-impact story.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/14/2009 at 01:52 PM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! •  
• Comments (3) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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