US Navy disrupts pirate attack on Suezmax off Yemen

London (Platts)--22Dec2011/707 am EST/1207 GMT

US Navy destroyer USS Pinckey disrupted suspected pirates south of Yemen on December 19, the US Navy said in a statement late Wednesday. The destroyer responded to a distress call by the Nordic Apollo, a Suezmax crude tanker, that "they were under attack and [had] been fired upon by pirates from a skiff."
Pinckey's helicopter successfully tracked and located a skiff, "observing nine suspected pirates and pirate paraphernalia on board, including several ladders, weapons and fuel containers," the US Navy statement said.
Cyrus Mody from the International Maritime Bureau said Thursday navies operating in the area off Somalia and the Gulf of Aden have helped reduce successful hijackings by Somali pirates this year. "After the monsoon we have not seen a lot of piracy attacks," Mody said, adding that "the navies had been very actively targeting the pirate action groups and that has helped in reducing the numbers."
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US Navy Stops Somali Pirate Attack
December 21, 2011

A U.S. destroyer broke up an attack by Somali pirates on Monday in the lawless waters of the Gulf of Aden, but the American Sailors let the would-be hijackers go, the Navy announced.
The incident highlights the difficulty for the U.S. and international navies that patrol the pirate-infested waters off the Horn of Africa, where warships can help disrupt attacks when they happen or sometimes rescue ships after the fact -- but only treat the symptoms of the piracy problem, not its root causes.
According to the Navy, the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Nordic Apollo radioed for help at about 8:40 a.m. local time on Monday -- its crew reported being fired upon by pirates in a small skiff. At 11:00 a.m., another vessel reported "suspicious activity by a skiff," and the destroyer USS Pinckney responded to investigate....(cont at link below)

http://www.military.com/news/article/2011/us-navy-stops-somali-pirate-attack.html