Hi-tech Somali pirates outgunned by Aussie navy
UP close and personal, the modern day pirate gang is a mob of scruffily dressed Somali males armed to the teeth with AK-47 assault rifles and other weapons.
And the group encountered by those aboard the Anzac Frigate HMAS Toowoomba in the Indian Ocean last month were distinctly unhappy that their plan to hijack a Portuguese freighter had been thwarted.
But they weren’t about to admit they were pirates.
Communicating through a Somali language interpreter, Lieutenant Jace (Jace) Hutchison, officer in charge of Toowoomba’s nine-member boarding party, asked just what they had in mind in approaching the Portuguese vessel.
They told me their water was too hot to drink and that they were closing in on the merchant vessel to ask for more water, said Lt Hutchison. But they had plenty of water aboard, he added.
Also aboard the twin outboard motor-powered vessel were six AK-47s, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and four rockets plus a G3 automatic rifle and several hundred rounds of ammunition.
They also had mobile phones and GPS satellite navigation equipment.
But they were unhappy and scared, Lt Hutchison recalled.
When we did identify who we thought the captain was, we decided he was probably the one who looked the least scared, he said.
He also didn’t seem to want to help out too much.
Lt Hutchison had no doubt at all piracy was the plan. The skiff was about 100 nautical miles (185km) off Somalia. There was food and fuel aboard but no fishing gear.
With that many weapons, it’s a bit tough to convince anyone you’re fishermen, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailytelegraph.com.au …
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