High-seas rescue
November 19th, 2009 | Maritime operations Pirates The Middle East merchant ships | Posted by Phil Ewing
Sailors from the cruiser Chosin rescued three fishermen clinging to a piece of wood this week in the Gulf of Aden // MC1 Scott Taylor / Navy
The Navy’s new slogan may have gotten a mixed reception internally, but there are three Yemeni fishermen, at least, who would probably agree it really is a global force for good. The cruiser Chosin spotted the men on Tuesday clinging to a piece of wood in the Gulf of Aden, and sent a launch to fish them out of the water.
But it wasn’t as though these guys went for a swim and let their boat float away. According to this statement from 5th Fleet, they told the crew of the Chosin they’d been hijacked:
According to the fishermen, they were left stranded in the water after 12 suspected pirates hijacked their vessel. The fishermen also said that the pirates gave them an ultimatum to either jump overboard with only a wooden plank as a flotation device or be killed.
After surviving for three days with only a few bottles of water, a passing merchant vessel spotted them in the water. The merchant vessel notified coalition forces and a Chosin rescue team picked up the stranded fishermen.
Sounds unpleasant, although forcing a crew to jump overboard seems more like something from the Boy’s Book of Pirates than a tactic used by modern outlaws off the coast of Somalia. Today’s pirates make their living by ransoming hostages, so doesn’t it seem odd they’d want these guys off their boat?
Comments
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Dan Smith Says:
November 19th, 2009 at 4:10 pmI would say that they probably didn’t think they could ransom some poor fishermen. Most of the ransom situations are substantial merchant ships from big companies.
Also, if it was a fishing trawler that was hijacked, then they might not have been wanting to return it for ransom. It could be that they needed a new mother ship.