NATO’s counter piracy flagship, HNLMS ROTTERDAM, was forced to return fire on a pirate dhow while conducting routine surveillance this week in the Gulf of Aden.
The HNLMS ROTTERDAM, flagship for NATO’s Operation Ocean Shield, was off the coast of Somalia when it came under fire by a group of pirates from a nearby dhow as well as from pirates on shore.
In typical counter-piracy fashion, the HNLMS ROTTERDAM returned fire, blasting the dhow and setting it ablaze. The pirates on board were forced to abandoned ship to escape the fire and were quickly apprehended.
“In this instance the pirates openly chose confrontation. This does not happen often and it indicates that we are indeed impeding their operations and in doing so, pushing them to take more extreme options,” said Commodore Ben Bekkering, commander of the Nato task force.
One pirate was reportedly killed in the exchange.
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