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On Jan 18, French amphibious assault ship, TCD
Siroco, flagship of the EU Naval Force Atalanta,
released the Indian crew and arrested five suspected
pirates holding the crew hostage, a statement
from the French embassy said.
On Jan 17, the Siroco was alerted about a pirate
attack on an oil tanker, the Nave Atropos, sailing
under the Marshall Islands flag. The French ship
forced the pirates to sail away from the merchant
ship.
The incident was relayed to all ships and military
assets in the area, and started off an international
coordination operation carried out by the Atalanta
headquarters.
This helped in zeroing-in on the location of
a dhow suspected of having served as the attackers'
mother-ship.
TCD Siroco, a Foudre-class landing platform dock
- like Indian Navy's INS Jalashwa - was tasked
to intercept the dhow. A maritime patrol aircraft
from other counter-piracy forces and the Siroco's
own helicopter pursued the dhow for several hours
before it was intercepted Jan 18, said the embassy
statement.
Backed by the Siroco's Alouette III helicopter,
a team caught up with the dhow, identified as
Shane Hind, which was then flying the Indian flag.
As they approached the dhow, some people were
seen throwing equipment overboard.
The 11 Indian crew members held hostage were
liberated and five suspected pirates quickly surrendered
to the French forces.
The Indian dhow, which was likely being used
as a mother ship during the attack, was hijacked
several days ago much farther south, off the eastern
Somali coast.
The mission of Operation Atalanta is to escort
World Food Programme (WFP) vessels, participate
in securing maritime traffic and contribute to
the deterrence, prevention and repression of acts
of piracy off the Somali coast.
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