by DAVID AXE
For 10 months, Somali pirates had held the Nigerian tugboat Yenegoa Ocean, pictured, and her crew in the port of Hawo. Then, last week, the tug’s captain convinced his captors that the boat was out of fuel, and incapable of fleeing. But in fact, the tug was fueled up and ready to go.
The pirates fell for it. Thinking the ship defenseless, just one pirate stayed on board. The tug captain “and the rest of his 10-man crew overcame the guard and managed to escape, sailing away from the coast as night fell,” according to a news report. Off the Somali coast, the tug met up with the Dutch frigate De Zeven Provinciën, which “is providing logistical and medical support to the Nigerian crew and will subsequently escort the tug to a safe harbor,” NATO said in a statement.
Pirates had reportedly used the tug as a “mother-ship” to capture other vessels, according to one report:
Operating under the calls Sea Ocean or Puma Ocean, [pirates on Yenegoa Ocean] several times fooled naval forces as a vessel in distress, thereby attracting the attention of naval forces, while the pirates did strike at other places. The captain and crew then made their captors believe it had ran out of fuel, which stopped these activities. The firefighting and supply tug had then — after having received some $80,000 U.S. from the owner for fuel and supplies — been moved … in readiness to receive a ransom, but the negotiations apparently provoked a fight among the pirates that escalated into a fatal shoot-out.
Thereafter, it was taken back to Hawo and stayed there having “run out of fuel again.” That this was a clever set-up, the pirates only realized when the vessel went full steam into the night and onto the high seas of the Gulf of Aden into freedom. Local reports speak now of a serious conflict among the hostage keepers also because nobody seems to have received the money which allegedly was sent from a U.S.-based group.
(Photo: Tugster)
Related:
Sam Jackson to Portray Mysterious Kenyan Piracy Expert
Somali Pirates Trained in the Soviet Union? You Betcha
Pirates Have Stingers? Probably Not …
NATO Frigate’s Pirate Catch-and-Release
Video: Navy, Coast Guard Grab Pirates
NATO Back in the Pirate-Fighting Business
Somali Insurgent’s Tips for Fighting Pirates
Coast Guard Issues Counter-Piracy Rules
A Negotiated End to Somali Piracy?
Navy Prison Ship Dodges Pirate Revenge
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[...] Related: Building the Somali Navy, 500 Guys at a Time French Propose “Stupidity Tax” for Pirate Victims After Rain Break, Somali Piracy Set to Return Dilbert Does Somali Pirates Coast Guard: Secret Weapon in the War on Piracy Nigerian Crew Outwits Somali Pirates Sam Jackson to Portray Mysterious Kenyan Piracy Expert Somali Pirates Trained in the Soviet Union? You Betcha Pirates Have Stingers? Probably Not … NATO Frigate’s Pirate Catch-and-Release Video: Navy, Coast Guard Grab Pirates NATO Back in the Pirate-Fighting Business Somali Insurgent’s Tips for Fighting Pirates This entry was posted on Saturday, September 12th, 2009 at 10:01 pm and is filed under No War. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. [...]
[...] While the heavily-armed warships from a dozen nations that ply African waters are the most visible facet of the war on piracy, merchant crews themselves represent the true “front line.” After all, most warships rely on visual detection to cue their boarding teams onto potential pirate boats — and visual means have no more than a five-mile range. [...]