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Navy frigate saves tanker from pirates
AN Australian navy frigate has thwarted a pirate attack on a UK-flagged chemical tanker in the Arabian Sea.The guided-missile frigate HMAS Melbourne steamed to the aid of the tanker CPO China after it was boarded by pirates on Monday night Australian time, the Defence Department said. HMAS Melbourne was more than 260km away when alerted to the incident but covered the distance in a little over six hours. While en route its helicopter raced ahead to the CPO China and "was able to deter the pirates from attempting to take control of the ship". "As a result the pirates aborted the attack and left the vessel when Melbourne arrived on the scene," Defence said today. Earlier, the tanker's crew had locked themselves into a stronghold from where they could maintain control of the ship. The crew also remained in satellite communications with the outside world after the pirates boarded. Posted by: tipper 2011-01-05 |
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