U.S. Navy Captures 9 Suspected Pirates in Second Somali Action

By Caroline Alexander and Gregory Viscusi

Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. forces captured nine suspects in the Gulf of Aden today, the Navy’s second seizure of pirates off the Somali coast in 24 hours.

Today’s action followed a distress call at about 4 a.m. local time from the Indian-flagged vessel Premdivya, whose crew said they had been fired on from a skiff, the U.S. 5th Fleet said in a statement.

A helicopter from the U.S. guided missile cruiser Vella Gulf brought the skiff to a stop with two warning shots, the fleet said. A team from the Vella Gulf boarded the skiff and arrested the suspects, who were to be transferred to a temporary holding facility on the naval supply ship Lewis and Clark.

The Vella Gulf’s crew seized seven piracy suspects in an incident yesterday. That operation marked the first time the U.S. contingent in an anti-piracy force captured suspected pirates off Somalia, the 5th Fleet said. U.S. sailors and Marines in the region previously were restricted to operations to “disrupt and deter” pirates.

French, Danish and British warships have arrested pirates, generally turning them over to Somali officials. Kenya has reached agreement with the U.S. and British militaries to prosecute pirates.

At about 3 p.m. yesterday, the 420-foot (128-meter) vessel Polaris, a chemical and oil-products tanker sailing under a Marshall Islands flag, sent a distress call after seven pirates in a skiff tried to force their way aboard using a ladder. Crewmembers removed the ladder and stopped the hijacking, the U.S. Navy said. Sailors from the Vella Gulf intercepted the skiff, which carried “several weapons,” the fleet said.

Task Force

The Vella Gulf is part of a multinational task force that conducts counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.

About 20 warships now patrol the Gulf of Aden, an unavoidable transit point for the 50 ships a day that use the Suez Canal. The increased naval presence has cut piracy in the region, according to the U.S. Navy.

Last year, pirates attacked 165 ships and seized 43 off the coast of Somalia, up from 58 attacks and 12 seizures in 2007, the French military said.