Sailors help overpower pirates off Somalia

[GreatAmerican]

<p><a href=“http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/10/ap_pirates_071030/[/url]”>http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/10/ap_pirates_071030/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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U.S. sailors brought injured North Koreans aboard their destroyer for medical treatment after the Koreans were shot and injured in a battle with pirates off the coast of Somalia, the Navy said Wednesday. The destroyer James E. Williams assisted Korean sailors who retook control of their North Korean-flagged vessel Tuesday in a deadly battle with Somali pirates who had hijacked the boat.</p>

<p>Lt. John Gay, deputy spokesman for the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain, said that all Korean and American sailors were back on their ships by Wednesday morning…

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[GreatAmerican]

<p><a href=“http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/10/ap_pirates_071030/[/url]”>http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/10/ap_pirates_071030/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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The U.S. military has stepped up activities in the pirate-infested waters off Somalia, going to the aid of hijacked cargo ships twice this week. American medics treated wounded North Korean sailors on one vessel, and the Navy was tracking another after destroying two pirate skiffs lashed alongside.</p>

<p>Somalia, on the eastern rim of the Horn of Africa, has had no functioning government since slipping into chaos in 1991 at the beginning of its long civil war. Its waters are among the most pirate-infested anywhere, with more than two dozen ship hijackings this year…

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[GreatAmerican]

<p><a href=“http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_pirates_071102/[/url]”>http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_pirates_071102/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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The Navy on Friday kept its eye on a Japanese tanker taken over by pirates off Somalia’s coast, while a top U.S. official said that piracy remains a “very serious security problem” in the region.</p>

<p>Earlier this week, a North Korean tanker overrun by pirates was taken back after crew members overpowered the hijackers in a bloody fight. The hijackers were being held aboard the ship until they can be handed over for prosecution at a port…

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[GreatAmerican]

<p>[Pirates</a> now off 2 hijacked ships, Navy says - Navy News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Navy Times](<a href=“http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_pirates_071104/]Pirates”>http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_pirates_071104/)</p>

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Somali pirates agreed to leave two boats they had hijacked in the waters off the Horn of Africa months earlier, and the newly liberated vessels — and their crew of 24 — were escorted Sunday by the Navy to safer waters.</p>

<p>The pirates climbed into small skiffs Sunday and headed back to Somalia, and a U.S. Navy ship and helicopter guided the Tanzanian-flagged boats Mavuno 1 and 2 further out to sea, where naval personnel board the vessels and gave the crew medical checkups, said Cmdr. Lydia Robertson of the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain. No injuries were reported, she said…

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[GreatAmerican]

<p>[In</a> chasing pirates, Navy comes full circle - Navy News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Navy Times](<a href=“http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/11/navy_pirates_071103w/]In”>http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/11/navy_pirates_071103w/)</p>

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The Navy is getting back to its roots. Re-established specifically after the Revolutionary War to combat North African pirates who were plundering merchant ships, American sailors now find themselves toe-to-toe with seagoing thugs again, called on to rid the seas of violent hijackers.</p>

<p>At least three American destroyers engaged hijacked vessels off the coast of Somalia the week of late October, early November…

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[GreatAmerican]

<p>[Navy</a> helps free ship held 5 months by pirates - Navy News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Navy Times](<a href=“http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_somalipirates_071105/]Navy”>http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_somalipirates_071105/)</p>

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The Navy on Monday helped free the fifth ship in a week hijacked by Somalia pirates, attempting to bring security to crucial shipping routes between the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.</p>

<p>Pirates released the Taiwanese fishing vessel 5 1/2 months after seizing it. U.S. naval personnel have been telling the pirates by radio to abandon hijacked vessels, get back in their small skiffs and return to Somalia.</p>

<p>“We encourage pirates to leave the ships,” said Cmdr. Lydia Robertson of the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain. “We tell them, you get in the skiff, you leave, you do not take any hostages.”…

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[GreatAmerican]

<p>[Pirate-hunting</a> amphib arrives home in Va. - Navy News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Navy Times](<a href=“http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/11/navy_carterhall_returns_071107w/]Pirate-hunting”>http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/11/navy_carterhall_returns_071107w/)</p>

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The dock landing ship Carter Hall returned from Wednesday from a cruise that, at one point, saw the ship chasing down pirates off the Somali coast.</p>

<p>The Carter Hall deployed April 10 with no embarked Marines on a mission to conduct maritime security operations. It returned to Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Va., on Wednesday morning…

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[GreatAmerican]

<p>[Navy:</a> Pirates release tanker, crew off Somalia - Navy News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Navy Times](<a href=“http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/12/ap_pirates_071211/]Navy:”>http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/12/ap_pirates_071211/)</p>

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Pirates released a Japanese tanker and its 22 crew members off the Somali coast Wednesday and all the crew are unharmed, a U.S. Navy spokesman said.</p>

<p>The chemical tanker Golden Nori was seized off Africa six weeks ago</p>

<p>The Golden Nori, carrying crew from Myanmar, the Philippines and South Korea, was seized in late October off the east coast of Somalia. One of the two South Korean crew members escaped and was rescued by a passing vessel in early November…

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