Following the successful release from pirates of the Maltese registered tanker Hellas Aphrodite on 7 November, European Union (EU) naval assets attached to Operation Atalanta boarded an abandoned dhow, used as a mother ship for the attack last Thursday.
The dhow, as per an Atalanta statement, was tracked and monitored by Spanish frigate ESPS Victoria (F82), and an unnamed Indian Navy warship as the successful effort to disrupt pirate action group (PAG) attacks off Somalia’s north-western coast continues via aerial and maritime patrols.
The seizure of the mother ship (Issamohamadi), sailing under the Iranian flag, saw evidence and intelligence gathered by Atalanta personnel. This, together with evidence from the Hellas Aphrodite, will be handed to the legal team working for prosecution of the attackers.
As of Wednesday 12 November all those behind and responsible for the attack on the 29 000 ton Durban-bound tanker remain at large. Atalanta, along with the Somali federal government and that of its Puntland province, continues search operations.
The Hellas Aphrodite mission involved Atalanta flagshipVictoria, her onboard helicopter – Agusta Bell AB-212 – and a ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as well as elements of the operation’s special ops detachment. Also part of the counter-piracy tasking was a Spanish Air and Space Force C-235, configured to D-4 VIGMA for maritime patrol and surveillance, a Japanese maritime patrol and reconnaissance P-3C Orion from the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), a 46 nation-strong alliance headquartered in Bahrain, the Seychellois Air Force and Somali authorities.
The Maltese flagged tanker was boarded some 700 nautical miles off Mogadishu with Atalanta assets deploying when intelligence reported the Hellas Aphrodite was fired on and boarded. There was reportedly initial resistance from the pirates aboard with them abandoning ship in the face of the joint advancing assets and personnel. All 24 crew are safe with no injuries reported.
