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| Africa Horn | |
| Somali Pirate Attack Foiled by Water-Hoses | |
| 2009-04-11 | |
| ON BOARD NRB CORTE-REAL (Reuters) - Somali pirates attacked a 26,000-tonne, Panama-flagged bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday, but were driven away by sailors spraying them with water-hoses, NATO alliance staff said. The NATO officials, on board a Portuguese warship protecting shipping lanes from piracy, said an unexploded rocket-propelled grenade landed in the commanding officer's cabin during the attack and bullets were fired at the ship. The pirates left after water hoses were turned on them, NATO staff officer Stephan Gresmak said. "They looked for an easier target," he told a Reuters reporter on the Portuguese ship NRB Corte-Real. Eight pirates, armed with AK-47s, were on board the skiff that attacked the MV Anatolia soon after daybreak in the southwest corner of the Gulf of Aden, the officials said. The Anatolia also used evasive steering to escape. "It was on later inspection the Commanding Officer saw the bullet holes in the superstructure (outer skin) of the ship," Gresmak said. "The Commanding Officer reported an unexploded RPG round in his cabin to the UK Maritime Shipping Centre, and they advised not to touch it."
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| Posted by:Sherry |
| #5 Charles, you REALLY don't want flamethrowers aboard ships like these. Consider what they are carrying - oil (yeah, I know crude oil is actually relatively hard to set on fire), LPG, etc. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2009-04-11 20:41 |
| #4 49pan, are Flamethrowers ALLOWED on a ship? I know they don't want them to carry guns (stupid) but is there a law against just placing barrels at key places, with napalm in it, and letting loose? Or even Dynamite? |
| Posted by: Charles 2009-04-11 18:56 |
| #3 It's still stupid that all-out war isn't waged against the Somali pirates. Instead, the world waits until the pirates have hostages, raising the stakes of armed intervention and waits until they've received millions of dollars of ransom in order to upgrade their boats and weapons. |
| Posted by: Odysseus 2009-04-11 18:21 |
| #2 In case anyone is wondering, these are not your typical 3/4" garden hose. They are 3+ inch fire hoses. Standard drill has them controlled by several crew members at once. Kind of tough to stand up and aim an AK-47 when you are hit by one. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2009-04-11 14:05 |
| #1 Next time try flame throwers! |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2009-04-11 14:03 |