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Vikings Sink Pirate Skiff Off Somali Coast, NATO News Issues Overblown Report

By Alan Gray, NewsBlaze

ECOTERRA reports that a NATO destroyer sank a "pirate mothership" in the Indian Ocean, off the Somali coast on Sunday. The official NATO statement said the Danish warship HDMS Absalon disrupted a pirate operation, by "scuttling" a pirate skiff, one of the boats Somali gangs use to transport attack teams to hunting areas, far off the coast.

Apparently, this incident occurred in the "Somali Basin" of the Indian Ocean, to the east of Somalia, not in the Gulf of Aden, between the northern part of Somalia and Yemen.

The initial report came from Shona Lowe, NATO anti-piracy spokeswoman, but no other details were available at the time. Soon after, the NATO news service reported the incident with the skiff as "Danish NATO destroyer sinks pirate mothership off Somalia."

ECOTERRA says the skiff was definitely not a "mother ship," but a small open coastal fishing vessel, made of fibreglass with an inboard Volvo Penta engine. After seizing the vessel, the Danish warship sank it, creating huge fireballs, due to the many plastic fuel containers these boats carry for longer trips.

Produced under a Swedish development project and introduced into Somalia in the 1980's, two types of these small and open fishing boats were produced for the artisanal fisheries on the Somali coast. One is a 5-7m skiff, which Somali fishermen lovingly call "Leila Alawi" after a famous Egyptian singer, powered by a "singing" 40 horespower petrol outboard engine, and the other is what the Somalis call "Volva," a 10-12m fishing boat with an inboard Volo Penta diesel.

"While it is true that the tiny skiff is often used as a fast boat to attack merchant vessels and the slightly larger one is used to carry fuel and food for the sea-shifta, the picture which certain media paint for the global news is certainly overblown," stated Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Assistance programme. "A real mothership is rather a commandeered larger vessel with strong double engines, a commando stand and cabins, like the FV EKAWATNAVA 5, which was blown out of the water by the Indian navy - killing 15 of the 16 men crew, while the pirates escaped," he explained.

"Though overstated, the Danish Navy and NATO at least are honest and report such incidents", commented an analyst working with ECOTERRA International. He added: "We observe an increasing number of such attacks by the international navies against Somalis - those caught red-handed and potential pirates as well as innocent fishermen alike, which go completely unreported by the navies. Over four hundred names are now on our list of Somalis missing at sea."

There is still conflicting information from Somalia concerning the location of the incident on Sunday. Some say about 40-50 nautical miles off the coast and well inside the 200 nautical mile zone, while others maintain the group was found by the Navy ship without food outside the 200 nautical mile zone.

ECOTERRA says the NATO crew, after arresting and allegedly beating the eleven men, exploded and sank their boat, then transported them back to the coast between Haradheere and Hobyo, where they were released, minus weapons and boat.

Ownership of the sunk boat has not yet been determined. It may have belonged to a pirate group or it may have been stolen from local fishermen for the trip. ECOTERRA notes that Somalis have the right to carry weapons at sea, except for a small stretch near Mogadishu, where the Transitional Federal Government tried to impose a gun ban on the fishermen.

Since local observers said this incident occurred off the Harardheere coast, the location of the pirate dens, it may well have been a pirate gang.

No word yet on the legality of the action by the Danish navy under NATO command, which may have been inside the 200 nautical mile zone of Somalia, because none of the anti-piracy agreements the international community tried to close with the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia or Somali Regional Governments has been approved or ratified by the Somali parliament. Additionally, the Somali government has not requested assistance.