Danish NATO Destroyer Sinks Maritime Pirate Vessel off Somalia

NATO says one of its destroyers, the Danish warship HDMS Absalon, has sunk a pirate mothership off the Somali coast, after allowing the crew to leave.  The Danish flagship is one of the three-vessel NATO flotilla in the region.  The 6,300-ton Absalon, commissioned in 2007, serves as the flagship of the NATO flotilla. It arrived off Somalia in January.

The warship scuttled the pirate skiff in the Somali Basin, also known as the Indian Ocean (called the Basin to deliniate it from the adjacent Gulf of Aden where most pirate attacks take place).

The mothership was fired on and sunk after its crew members were transferred to a smaller boat in tow, which was allowed to return to the mainland.

Piracy in the region has soared in correllation with the rule of law crumbling in Somalia.  Maritime pirates plague the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, one of the world’s busiest areas for sea transportation.

NATO maintains a three-ship flotilla – which also includes the frigates USS Boone and the British HMS Chatham – to fight the pirates.  The European Union has a separate, six-ship squadron in the region as part of its anti-piracy mission known as Operation Atalanta, as do other nations such as the United States, India, Russia, and China.
For more information on maritime piracy, please contact Schechter, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P., Accident & Injury Lawyers