Monday - March 07, 2011

Hijacked Tanker Rescued

MANAMA, Bahrain – A request for assistance from a Japanese-owned merchant vessel in the Somali Basin led to Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) warship USS Bulkeley (DDG 84) securing the release of the vessel and its 24 crew members from four suspected pirates, Mar. 6.

At approximately 3.00pm local time, Mar. 5, the oil tanker MV Guanabara reported it was under attack when it was 328 nautical miles south east of Duqm, Oman. Bulkeley, assigned to CMF’s counter-piracy mission Combined Task Force (CTF) 151 was directed to intercept Guanabara, supported by the Turkish warship TCG Giresun of NATO’s counter-piracy Task Force 508.

Following confirmation from Guanabara’s master that the suspected pirates were on board and his crew had taken refuge in the ship’s “citadel”, Bulkeley’s specialist boarding team, supported overhead by its embarked SH-60 helicopter, secured the Bahamian-flagged vessel and detained four men.

There was no exchange of fire at any time during the operation to release the MV Guanabara. The decision on what to do with the suspected pirates is ongoing.

USS Bulkeley is a 10 year old Arleigh Burke class destroyer nearly 510 feet long with a crew of 380.

MV Guanabara is a medium tanker, 106,045 dwt, 755 in length, built in 2007. 

Posted by Drew458     on 03/07/2011 at 07:49 AM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! •  
• Comments (2) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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