Sunk 'Mother Ship' May Not Have Had Pirates on Board

[NF Reporter]

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Despite the Indian Navy's claims that it sank a so-called pirate "mother ship" last week, there is no evidence to suggest that any pirates were on ...
Indian navy 'sank Thai trawler' - BBC
Pirate Mother Ship or Thai Trawler? - New York Times
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Sunk 'Mother Ship' May Not Have Had Pirates on Board

[waltky]

Pirates gettin' cagey...

Pirates shift goalposts on EU armada
December 09, 2008 - AS an EU armada began operations off Somalia's pirate-infested coast today, maritime authorities said pirates are attacking shipping further south along the African coast, extending the already vast area the warships will have to protect.

British admiral Philip Jones will have six warships and three spotter planes at his disposal over the next year for his naval force, dubbed Atalanta, which took over protection duties today from four NATO vessels. "This operation, under British command, I hope will begin to establish international order in seas that are vital to trade right around the world," British foreign minister David Miliband said as he arrived for talks with EU counterparts in Brussels. But the pirates have moved the goalposts, targetting vessels outside Somalia's waters.

"The pirates are going further east and south where there is no naval protection," Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur, said. "Previously the pirates were attacking off southern Somalia but now you are seeing attacks 400 to 500 miles (640 to 800km) from the Kenyan coast, where they are targeting ships, and they are going even as far off to Tanzania, which is further south."

Heavily-armed pirates set a Dutch container ship ablaze in an attack off Tanzania on Sunday, the IMB said. They fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the vessel 450 nautical miles (830km) east of the Tanzanian capital, Dar Es Salaam. The unnamed, Hong-Kong-flagged ship caught fire but outran its attackers. The captain noticed a white-hulled fishing boat believed to be the pirates' mother ship near the scene. "We find it very disturbing that they are going so far out of their operational area, encroaching in waters at least two countries away," Mr Choong said. "The fact that they can attack 450 nautical miles east of Dar Es Salaam is very worrying."

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