ianstone
05-06-2010, 07:20 PM
High-Seas Shootout To Reclaim Hijacked Ship
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5:28pm UK, Thursday May 06, 2010
Tom Bonnett, Sky News Online
Russian marines have won back a hijacked oil tanker and rescued 23 hostages in a high-seas standoff against Somali pirates.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/May/Week1/15626452.jpg Somali pirates took an estimated $50m in ransoms last year
One of the pirates was killed when the marines sped to the tanker in small boats and began their assault.
In a three-hour operation in the Gulf of Aden the Russians scaled the sides of the ship and captured 10 pirates.
They then freed the 23 crew the hijackers had locked in a cabin when they took the tanker.
The Moscow University was on its way to China with 86,000 barrels of crude oil worth £33m.
The pirates will face "criminal responsibility" for the hijacking, Russian investigators said in a statement.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/May/Week1/15626456.jpg The marines sailed out to the tanker in the Russian warship Marshal Shaposhnikov
Many of the hijackers were injured during the mission.
The end of the 20-hour hijacking is a major triumph for the Russian military as it prepares to celebrate 65 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany on Sunday.
The ship's operator said the marines' swift work had been carried out "in the best traditions of the Russian naval mariners".
Although the introduction of warships in the Gulf has reduced hijackings, the attack on the Moscow University is unlikely to be the last.
The heavily-armed pirates raked in an estimated £40m dollars in ransoms last year.
As of last month, Somali pirates were holding and demanding ransom for 23 foreign vessels and 384 sailors, according to maritime watchdog Ecoterra.
[URL="http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Paul-And-Rachel-Chandler-Somali-Pirates-Allow-British-Couple-To-Be-Reunited-Temporarily/Article/201002115539467"]British couple Rachel and Paul Chandler have been held hostage since October. (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Russian-Marines-Kill-Somali-Pirate-In-Shootout-To-Reclaim-Hijacked-Oil-Tanker-And-Hostaged-Crew/Article/201005115626427?lpos=World_News_First_Home_Article _Teaser_Region_9&lid=ARTICLE_15626427_Russian_M#comments)
WELL! It good to see some spine arrive from the Sov's, of all people.
[/URL]
5:28pm UK, Thursday May 06, 2010
Tom Bonnett, Sky News Online
Russian marines have won back a hijacked oil tanker and rescued 23 hostages in a high-seas standoff against Somali pirates.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/May/Week1/15626452.jpg Somali pirates took an estimated $50m in ransoms last year
One of the pirates was killed when the marines sped to the tanker in small boats and began their assault.
In a three-hour operation in the Gulf of Aden the Russians scaled the sides of the ship and captured 10 pirates.
They then freed the 23 crew the hijackers had locked in a cabin when they took the tanker.
The Moscow University was on its way to China with 86,000 barrels of crude oil worth £33m.
The pirates will face "criminal responsibility" for the hijacking, Russian investigators said in a statement.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/May/Week1/15626456.jpg The marines sailed out to the tanker in the Russian warship Marshal Shaposhnikov
Many of the hijackers were injured during the mission.
The end of the 20-hour hijacking is a major triumph for the Russian military as it prepares to celebrate 65 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany on Sunday.
The ship's operator said the marines' swift work had been carried out "in the best traditions of the Russian naval mariners".
Although the introduction of warships in the Gulf has reduced hijackings, the attack on the Moscow University is unlikely to be the last.
The heavily-armed pirates raked in an estimated £40m dollars in ransoms last year.
As of last month, Somali pirates were holding and demanding ransom for 23 foreign vessels and 384 sailors, according to maritime watchdog Ecoterra.
[URL="http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Paul-And-Rachel-Chandler-Somali-Pirates-Allow-British-Couple-To-Be-Reunited-Temporarily/Article/201002115539467"]British couple Rachel and Paul Chandler have been held hostage since October. (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Russian-Marines-Kill-Somali-Pirate-In-Shootout-To-Reclaim-Hijacked-Oil-Tanker-And-Hostaged-Crew/Article/201005115626427?lpos=World_News_First_Home_Article _Teaser_Region_9&lid=ARTICLE_15626427_Russian_M#comments)
WELL! It good to see some spine arrive from the Sov's, of all people.