Somali forces free hijacked vessel

[Greyskye]

Source: Christian Science Monitor

Somali forces have freed 11 crewmen from a hijacked ship and arrested a group of armed pirates involved in its seizure. The ship was among at least 30 that have been attacked this year by pirates in Somali waters, the world's most dangerous for commercial shipping.

The Panamanian ship was freed after soldiers from Puntland, a semiautonomous region of Somalia, boarded the vessel. One soldier died and three were wounded in gun battles before the group of pirates ran out of ammunition and surrendered. No hostages or pirates were hurt.

The rescue comes amid increasingly bold piracy attacks off Somalia's coast. In late September, another ship – a Ukrainian vessel loaded with Russian arms – was seized by pirates who are seeking a $20 million ransom. US Naval ships are stationed nearby, after warnings that the cache of tanks, artillery shells, rocket launchers, and small arms bound for Kenya could be diverted to Islamist forces in Somalia.

According to the Associated Press (AP) the pirates had threatened to blow up the arms ship on Tuesday, but a US military spokesman said that hadn't happened and a spokesman for the pirates said a new deadline may be set.

Read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1015/p99s01-duts.html

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Edit: My bad - wrong pirate ship. You gotta have a pirate score-card these days to keep track of 'em all.

[Posteritatis]

1. This is a different ship (nt)

[JackintheGreen]

2. It's a different ship, still held by pirates

The ship referenced in the CSM is Panamanian; the "tank ship" is Ukranian and still under pirate control. Russian forces were "on the way" over the weekend, but I haven't heard anything since.