British marines free hijacked Italian ship off coast of Somalia

British marines free hijacked Italian ship off coast of Somalia
British commandos have stormed an Italian cargo ship which was hijacked by Somalia pirates in the Indian Ocean, rescuing the crew and capturing nearly a dozen pirates.




The Italian ship Montecristo docked in a harbour in Italy Photo: REUTERS




By Nick Squires, Rome

The Marines, armed with pistols and SA-80 automatic rifles and operating from a Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship, the RFA Fort Victoria, sped towards the hijacked ship in inflatable boats as a British helicopter buzzed overhead.

They boarded the 56,000-ton bulk carrier Montecristo and disarmed the pirates without encountering any opposition.

“It was a compliant boarding — the 11 pirates surrendered without firing a shot,” said a Ministry of Defence spokesman. “They were arrested and detained on board the ship.” The ship’s 23 crew – seven Italians, six Ukrainians and 10 Indians — were released unharmed.

Four of the Italians were privately-contracted security guards, but in line with international practise they were unarmed and had been powerless to fend off the pirates.

The crew had taken refugee inside a secure, armoured area of the bridge when the ship was hijacked, from where they were able to send out distress signals.

They also continued to control the vessel’s movements, steering it towards the antipiracy forces.

The RFA vessel is part of a Nato operation, code-named Ocean Shield, which is patrolling the waters off the coast of Somalia.

Support for the raid was provided by a frigate from the US Navy.

“An Italian vessel in distress doesn’t necessarily have to be assisted by Italian forces,” said the MoD spokesman. “This is a multinational counter-piracy operation led by Nato.” The raid struck a rare blow against Somali pirates, who in the last few years have seized dozens of vessels and made millions of pounds from ransoming their crews.

Pirates operating from 'mother ships’, as well as remote ports along the Somali coast, currently hold at least 10 ships and around 250 hostages.

The Montecristo, which is owned by the Italian shipping company D’Alesio, was hijacked on Monday 620 miles east of the coast of Somalia.

It had set off from Liverpool on Sept 20 and was carrying scrap iron to Vietnam.

“A British helicopter flew over the bridge and the pirates gave themselves up immediately,” said Ignazio La Russa, the Italian defence minister. “Some had already thrown their weapons into the sea.” He said the pirates would be transferred to an Italian frigate, the Andrea Doria, which is part of Ocean Shield.

He said the operation had been organised in close collaboration with his British counterpart, Liam Fox, the Defense Secretary.

Franco Frattini, the foreign minister, expressed his thanks to the Royal Marines and Royal Navy, saying the operation was a demonstration of multinational co-operation in the fight against piracy.

Earlier on Tuesday, Italy announced that in response to the growing problem of piracy, it will form a new antipiracy military task force, deploying 60 marines to Italian merchant vessels sailing around the Horn of Africa.

The force, to be divided into 10 squads of six men, will be based in Djibouti.

Although many ships already carry security personnel, disputes over the legality of them using lethal force against pirates has hampered their effectiveness.


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