Hijacked dhow recovered by NATO warship

NATO and EUNAVFOR had been patrolling the seas together when the decision was made to disrupt the suspects.

A search was initiated when Bossaaso port authorities reported a possible hijacking of a dhow which was later found by the EU Naval Force unit Lafayette. But the pirates had already transferred to another vessel, the Bourhan Nour, bound for Somalia.

Commodore Ben Bekkering, commander of NATO’s counter piracy mission, Operation Ocean Shield, said: “To us it seemed highly unlikely that the pirates would want to return to Bossaaso. We therefore decided to station Rotterdam off the coast, deploying her landing craft in a number of locations, effectively blocking any retreat from or support of the dhow. As expected, the dhow entered the trap.”

Bekkering added: “It is clear that the pirates are experiencing increasing pressure. If they make it to the open sea, they find it increasingly difficult to stay undetected and find opportunities to attack merchant vessels. That can be credited to a broad international effort and the effective coordination between many participants. In this case, NATO and EU worked closely together. The fact that Rotterdam could execute the last step had everything to do with the team effort that preceded it.”