http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/2redd/Article/
SEOUL: In a daring and rare raid yesterday, South Korean special forces rescued all 21 crew members aboard a freighter hijacked in the Arabian Sea near Africa, killing eight pirates and capturing five others.The military operation came a week after Somali pirates seized the South Korean freighter and held hostage eight South Koreans, two Indonesians and 11 citizens from Myanmar.
"We will not tolerate any behaviour that threatens the lives and safety of our people in the future," President Lee Myung-bak said.Lee said he appreciated
unspecified countries for cooperating in the military operation.
South Korea's special navy forces stormed the hijacked vessel in a pre-dawn rescue operation that left eight of the pirates dead and five captured, said Lt-Gen Lee Seong-ho.The captain of the ship was shot by a pirate and taken by helicopter to a nearby country for treatment, though the wound was not life-threatening, Seong-Ho said. The 20 other crew members were rescued unharmed, he said.
Storming a ship held by pirates is rare and navies tend to avoid it because of the risk of harming hostages, who are usually kept below decks out of sight. So rescues are not normally attempted once the pirates are onboard the ship unless the crew is locked in a safe room -- often called a "citadel" -- with two-way communications.
The 11,500-tonne chemical carrier Samho Jewelry was sailing from the United Arab Emirates to Sri Lanka when it was hijacked. It was the second vessel from South Korea-based Samho Shipping to be hijacked in the past several months.
In November, Somali pirates freed the supertanker Samho Dream and its 24 crew -- five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos -- after seven months of captivity.
Meanwhile, pirates hijacked a Syrian ship with 25 sailors on board in the north Arabian Sea as it headed towards Yemen, the European Union's naval mission said yesterday.
The 24,000-tonne bulk carrier Khaled Muhieddine K was seized on Thursday afternoon around 330 nautical miles southeast of the Omani coastal port of Salalah, the EU Navfor mission said in a statement."Authorities were made aware of the attack when the master (captain) reported being fired upon with small arms and seeing pirates on board," the statement said.
The ship, which had registered its route with the appropriate authorities, was on its way from Singapore to Hudaydah, Yemen. It has a crew of 22 Syrians and three Egyptians.
Pirates are currently holding 30 vessels and 724 hostages off the coast of Somalia, according to the last European Union Navfor count. -- Agencies***
"Rare" raid? I think they can be avoided entirely if a small team of heavily armed specops folks just feed them to the sharks at sea.
If countries won't allow troops, or firearms on merchant ships, they can be ferried off right outside port. Different topic all together. However, these pirates need to be strafed with helicopter gun ships, the mother ships for pirates donated to the underwater reef society. How about some MOAB's dropped on downtown coastal Somalia? :30 vessels, 724 hostages?
This could be over in a matter of weeks, if the world wanted it to be. But countries will "play nice", "pay ransom" and look stupid, pathetic, and weak.
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