Pirates abandon sailboat after being engaged by escorting armed security vessel
On March 2 at 0750 UTC, a motor sailboat, the Capricorn, was boarded by 6 armed pirates in position 1211N 06358E in the Indian Ocean, approximately 550nm East of Socotra Island off Somalia.
The pirates fired weapons and boarded the vessel. During that time the crew/owners of the sailboat, a couple from the Netherlands, locked themselves in the engine room. It is reported that the vessel was under escort by another vessel, part of Naval Guards escort duty (left), which had an embarked armed security team. The security personnel engaged the pirates and headed towards the sailboat. On their approach, the pirates abandoned the sailboat and moved away. A mothership was seen at a distance of 7nm. The Capricorn subsequently managed to evade capture.
This case is another departure from the boardings and hijack attempts seen more recently. The past few weeks has seen private seafarers hijacked in the dangerous waters off Somalia and beyond. The point has been made on numerous occasions by the military authorities that "they cannot be everywhere". The call by some shipowners for armed security teams to be placed onboard merchant vessels has increased, along with the shipping associations calling for greater response from governments and navies. A campaign has been launched calling for 'People Power' in the fight against Somali piracy in the Horn of Africa and Indian Ocean regions. Visit the site for details of the Save Our Seafarers campaign.
The original report by the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre is available here.
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Any suspicious activity should be reported to UKMTO in Dubai in the first instance (UKMTO@eim.ae or Telephone+971 50 552 3215) and on entering the UKMTO Voluntary Reporting Area (VRA) bound by Suez,78E and 10S.
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