Chalk one up for the good guys.
It was nice to see the name of the city where I went to High School, Rotterdam,The Netherlands, in the news as the name of the Dutch/NATO warship that took on pirates off Somali and took care of (pirate) business.
As ABC News reported yesterday, a bunch of Somali pirates aboard a dhow and armed with AK 47s was no match to the power of the Dutch/NATO warship HNMLS Rotterdam.
According to ABC News:
The Dutch warship HNMLS Rotterdam spotted a dhow close to the Somali shoreline. Because these kinds of fishing vessels are often used as “mother ships” for pirate crews, a boarding team was routinely dispatched to inspect the vessel.
As the boarding party neared the dhow, the Dutch sailors took sustained gunfire from both the dhow and fighters on shore. The boarding party returned fire and very quickly the dhow ignited in flames and those aboard jumped in the water to escape the blaze. The firefight killed one person aboard the dhow.
The suspected pirates received medical attention and are now being detained aboard the Rotterdam, which serves as the flagship for NATO’s counter-piracy task force off the waters of Somalia, known as “Ocean Shield.”
According to a Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) News Release, the flagship for NATO’s Ocean Shield counter piracy mission came under sustained fire from the suspected pirates while conducting routine surveillance.
When Rotterdam returned fire in accordance with rules of engagement, the dhow ignited and crew members were seen leaping into the water. While one crew member was killed, 25 people were subsequently rescued from the water by Rotterdam crew members, officials said.
Commodore Ben Bekkering of the Dutch navy, commander of the NATO Task Force, said that the Rotterdam and her boats remained under sustained fire from the shore throughout the incident, even while attempting to rescue the crew of the stricken dhow. One of Rotterdam’s rigid inflatable boats was damaged, he said.
Those rescued were transferred to the NATO flagship, where those who required it were given prompt medical attention. No Rotterdam crew members were injured.
“We know that pirates are increasingly using larger dhows as mother ships,” Bekkering said. “Therefore, we routinely inspect them. In this instance, the pirates openly choose confrontation. This does not happen often, and it indicates that we are, indeed, impeding their operations and in doing so, pushing them to take more extreme options.”
Bekkering praised the “calm professionalism” of the Rotterdam crew and said this incident, together with Rotterdam’s successful Oct. 11 interdiction of seven pirates, made two things very clear.
“Firstly, it is obvious that the scourge of piracy has not gone away, and we need to maintain our vigilance,” he said. “Secondly, the risks to the pirates themselves are becoming much greater, and while we regret any loss of life, we will deal with any threat we encounter in a firm, robust, but always proportionate, manner.”
———-HNMLS Rotterdam, the flagship for NATO’s Ocean Shield counter piracy mission———-
A little less than three months ago, this same ship boarded and freed a pirated vessel in the Gulf of Aden and detained six suspected pirates.
The Commanding officer of the HNLMS Rotterdam, Captain Huub Hulsker, simply said:
There was not really anywhere for them to go. The situation was clear and some strict orders and two warning shots later, the suspected pirates surrendered. The boarding team was on board and in control of the vessel within the next 20 minutes, separating the pirates from a grateful dhow crew. A grateful dhow crew, an impressive first action of my whole team early in my deployment and six suspected pirates detained on board, awaiting further decisions – this is a result that counts.
The Rotterdam along with other NATO assets and personnel has been doing a great job of taking care of (pirate) business.
According to NATO, after a spike at the start of the last decade, successful pirate attacks on commercial vessels off the Horn of Africa have diminished.
Twenty-eight attacks were recorded in the first half of 2011, three in the second half and five since January, according to Atalanta statistics.
Pirates currently control seven ships with some 213 crew members aboard, compared with 20 ships and 550 sailors a year ago.
More than 1,000 pirates are awaiting trial or have been sentenced in 20 countries.
Photos: NATO/DoD
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.