The crew of warship HMS Chatham's Lynx helicopter spotted a larger vessel towing two smaller attack boats 150 miles off the coast of Tanzania, in the Somali Basin.
A Royal Marine team, travelling in fast-boats, stormed the larger craft and found 10 Somalis and a large amount of fuel on board. The suspected pirates were seen throwing items, including weapons, into the sea.
The two smaller attack boats were fitted with powerful engines and contained a considerable amount of fuel, the Royal Navy said.
The marines separated the smaller boats from the larger craft, before HMS Chatham and the Lynx helicopter used their combined firepower to blow up the smaller boats.
The 10 Somalis were left with only enough fuel in the larger vessel to return to Somalia.
| Better than the Russians would have done for them ... |
|