Thursday, September 09, 2010
'This morning ... 24 US marines boarded and seized control of the Magellan Star from the pirates,' Lieutenant John Fage, spokesperson for the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, told the German Press Agency dpa.
'It was a very successful mission,' he added. 'Not only did it secure the safety of the crew, it was all done with no shots fired and there have been no injuries or casualties reported.'
The Antigua and Barbuda-flagged Magellan Star, owned by German firm Dr. Peters, sent out a distress call on Wednesday after coming under attack by pirates off the coast of Somalia.
The crew members - from the Philippines, Russia, Poland and Ukraine - managed to lock themselves into a secure compartment before the pirates came onboard.
The distress call was picked up by a Turkish warship operating as part of the US-led Combined Maritime Force's anti-piracy force. Three warships from the CMF then surrounded the hijacked vessel, keeping vigil overnight until the rescue operation was staged.
Fage said nine suspected pirates were being held on board the Magellan Star and would be transferred to another CMF warship.
It is not yet clear if, or where, the suspected pirates will stand trial.
Juergen Salamon, owner of Dr. Peters, praised the crew for managing to turn off the engines to prevent the pirates from maneuvering the ship.
'The captain and his people acted very prudently, we are proud of them,' he said.
Piracy is rife off the Horn of Africa nation, which has been without an effective central government since 1991.
A surge in pirate activity is expected in the coming weeks, as the monsoon season that forces small pirate craft to stay in port comes to a close.
The European Union's anti-piracy force off Somalia, EU NAVFOR, said that the Malta-flagged MV OLIB G, with a crew of 15 Georgians and three Turks, was also seized by pirates on Wednesday.
ECOTERRA International, an organization that monitors pirate activity off Somalia, said Wednesday that at least 24 foreign vessels and 429 seamen were being held.
