Posted on May 6, 2010 - by Venik

Russian special forces free sailors hijacked by Somali pirates

Pirates held on board after dawn raid on oil tanker off Somali coast

Russian special forces have freed 23 Russian sailors from a disabled oil tanker and arrested the Somali pirates who had taken it over, the commander of the European Union naval force said.

The dawn raid today on the Liberian-flagged ship Moscow University came 24 hours after pirates had taken over the ship and the crew locked itself in a safe room. The vessel is carrying about 86,000 tonnes of crude oil worth $50m (£33m).

The special forces, which had been on board the Russian anti-submarine destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov, rushed to the scene after the attack, boarded a helicopter and rappelled down to the Moscow University, said Rear Admiral Jan Thornqvist, force commander of the EU naval force

Shots were fired during the raid but no one was injured, Thornqvist said.

A Russian defence ministry spokesman, Colonel Alexei Kuznetsov, said the pirates were being held on board the tanker. Russian news agencies reported the death of one pirate during the raid, but Kuznetsov told AP that information was still being investigated.

The tanker crew had previously told officials they believed the pirates were trying to enter the engine room, Thornqvist said. The ship had been disabled and was not moving. Safe rooms, where crews seek shelter, are typically stocked with food, water and communications equipment and have reinforced doors that can only be opened from the inside.

The ship’s owner, Novoship, said in a statement that the decision to free the ship was made knowing “that the crew was under safe cover inaccessible to the pirates and that the lives and health of the sailors was not threatened by anything”.

Commander John Harbour, a spokesman for the EU naval force, called the rescue “an excellent operation all around”. He said the force had been working at a tactical level with the Russians, and that force personnel talked to the Russian crew by VHF radio. He said the EU had offered support to the Russians.

The attack occurred about 500 miles (800km) east of the Somali coast. The ship, which was not registered with the Maritime Security Centre, was travelling from the Red Sea to China. Novoship is a subsidiary of Sovcomflot, which is owned by the Russian government.

The raid on the tanker shortly after it was taken over is in line with a move for international military forces to be more aggressive in combating piracy.

In February, Danish special forces prevented the hijacking of a ship after pirates had boarded it. Special forces from the Danish Absalon boarded the Ariella while the crew locked themselves in a secure room.

EU naval force ships are disrupting pirate groups and destroying their ships at a much higher rate than in previous years. US warships have fired back on pirates and destroyed their boats in several skirmishes in the last few weeks.

Pirates currently hold more than 300 hostages taken from ships attacked off east Africa in the last several months. Eleven suspected Somali pirates were indicted in a US federal court late last month, but the international community has had problems formulating an accepted policy to try to jail pirate suspects.

However, the increased aggression against pirates has faced criticism.

On Wednesday, a French prosecutor said a French rescuer was responsible for killing the skipper of a sailboat hijacked by Somali pirates during a rescue operation.

In Rennes, the chief prosecutor Hever Pavy said investigators found a French military bullet had killed Florent Lemacon in April 2009 when a special intervention team came to rescue his yacht, the Tanit, off the Somali coast.

Four other hostages were saved after a week on the hijacked ship. Three suspected pirates who survived the rescue operation are on trial in France.

Original article

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