M/V Alabama sister ship attacked

[angus63]

CBS NEWS : Pirate Attack On U.S. Cargo Ship Thwarted

CBS News' Sheila MacVicar Is Aboard Canadian Warship As It Turns Pirates Away From Maersk Alabama's Sister Ship

ONBOARD HMCS WINNIPEG, May 22, 2009

(CBS) Canadian Naval helicopters thwarted an attack Friday by pirates in the Gulf of Aden on a U.S. cargo ship, the Maersk Virginia - from the same fleet as the Maersk Alabama, whose captain was held captive for four days in April.

CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar is aboard the Canadian warship HMCS Winnipeg, which first responded to a distress call by a Lebanese flagged cargo ship called the Maria K. The crew reported rocket propelled grenade fire from the pirates.

Within minutes, three naval helicopters from the Winnipeg were in the air and on their way to the Maria K, located about 60 miles away. The pirates broke off their pursuit of the Maria K and headed instead for the nearby American ship.

An Italian Naval helicopter joined the Canadian aircraft. With the helicopters hovering overhead, the pirates gave up their attempted hijacking and threw their weapons overboard before their boat was boarded by Italian seamen.

The Gulf of Aden is infested with Somali pirates, but is a crucial shipping channel for hundreds of merchant vessels every day. An increasing number of international warships have been moved to the region to protect them.

Maersk Lines, Limited, based in Virginia, declined to comment on the thwarted attack on their vessel Friday morning.

Maersk Virginia Captain Sean Hughes went through a similar ordeal in the Gulf of Aden in November 2008, when pirates chased him as he piloted the same vessel to safety by out-maneuvering the bandits.

 

[joed]

Re: M/V Alabama sister ship attacked

The most amazing part of that story is that the Canadian navy has three helicopters that can fly. They are so old they are constantly being grounded for repair or lack of parts.

 

[Mark42]

Re: M/V Alabama sister ship attacked

The most amazing part of that story is that the Canadian navy has three helicopters that can fly. They are so old they are constantly being grounded for repair or lack of parts.

Canada has a Navy?

 

[angus63]

Re: M/V Alabama sister ship attacked

Thanks QC!!
It won't be long before another vessel is boarded. This situation will get worse before it gets better.

 

[Nobody]

Re: M/V Alabama sister ship attacked

The most amazing part of that story is that the Canadian navy has three helicopters that can fly. They are so old they are constantly being grounded for repair or lack of parts.

Maybe the pirates were worried about being crashed into.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: M/V Alabama sister ship attacked

Canada has a Navy?

Yes we have a few gallons of water around us.
The time to get worried is when they commission my boat as a warship !!!

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: M/V Alabama sister ship attacked

Canada also has a Coast Guard. Plus, it sounds like they did a good job on this situation. Thanks Canada! Thanks to the Italians too.

There seems to be an increase in successful military action against these pirates. I don't know if the joint forces are doing anything different, or have just been getting lucky, but with each time an attack is thwarted, the closer we get to some sort of solution to this problem.

 

[timdan94]

Re: M/V Alabama sister ship attacked

Instead of just boarding them and then sending them on their way we need to start shooting them. They fired on an unarmed vessel they should have been fire back upon by the navy. Either deter them by killing a few or wipe them all out. That will be the only way to get rid of those parasites.