Danish ship countered pirate attack off Somalia

30.08.2010 Danish warship countered pirate attack off Somalia. Distress signal of Panamanian-flagged vessel was received by Danish ship Esbern Snare in the Gulf of Aden. The warship dispatched a patrol helicopter to help the sailors.

Having noticed approaching Danish copter, pirates ceased fire and tried to get away, reports Interfax referring to BBC. Danish pilots made pirates stop by cautionary fire. The Somali were delivered on board the Danish ship, disarmed, and then let go.

Statistics shows that Somali pirates have become more active. According to different sources, in 2008 pirates carried out about 94 attacks on civil ships in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden; in 2009 there were 217 attacks, 47 vessels with 867 sailors were captured. As for now, somewhat 20 ships and over 400 crewmen are held hostages.

EU has been conducting naval operation Atalanta in risky waters. Recently, the mission was prolonged for two years. Russian defense ministry also deployed naval assets in the region to secure civil shipping. At present, this task is being performed by Russian task unit led by large ASW ship Admiral Levchenko. The unit also includes the known salvage tug SB-36.

Before Admiral Levchenko, the anti-piracy watch had been successfully kept by Pacific Fleet task unit headed by large ASW ship Marshal Shaposhnikov. Masterful actions of her crew helped to release Russian tanker Moscow University captured by pirates in May. The unit returned to Vladivostok late June.