A U.S. warship intercepted Somali pirates and sunk their mothership after they attacked an oil tanker off the Seychelles, according to the United States Navy’s Fifth Fleet. The Sierra Leone-flagged tanker MV Evita came under attack 800 miles northwest of the Seychelles on Thursday, March 31, by three pirate boats. The pirates attacked the vessel with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades in an attempt to force it to stop, but the MV Evita evaded the pirates.
Coalition forces on patrol in the area dispatched the USS Farragut to track down the pirates on board the three skiffs. A Seahawk helicopter from the USS Farragut, was immediately dispatched to monitor the pirates while the pirate skiffs were boarded, the statement added. The Navy briefly held the eleven pirates while the mothership was sunk. After ensuring that the pirates had no means of conducting attacks, the Navy released all eleven pirates on the two small skiffs.
The USS Farragut is the flagship of the US-led Combined Task Force 151 coalition carrying out counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Also on Thursday near the Seychelles, the USS Nicholas captured five pirates, sank one skiff, and captured a mothership, which had opened fire from a small boat.
Read more at: Navy Times
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