The German Navy has released new video showing the 5 April 2010 hijacking of the German containership MV Taipan by pirates some 500 miles off the Somali coast.
In the video, filmed by a naval helicopter from the Dutch frigate HNLMS Tromp German P-3C Orion maritime surveillance aircraft, you can see a pirate skiff approach the vessel at high speed as the crew tried to ward off the attack using fire hoses and barbed wire. Later in the video, you can see pirates aboard two skiffs were able to board the vessel as it sat dead in the water.
The MV Taipan is the same ship seen in the below now-classic clip showing Dutch marines storming the ship and arresting the pirates just hours after the initial hijacking.
We know from reports back in 2010 that the crew was able to muster in a citadel and cut power to the ship. As it turns out, the video here and the aircraft surveillance provided the intel the boarding team needed, such as the pirates’ locations and proof that the crew was likely hiding in a citadel, in order to regain control of the ship without harm to crewmembers.
All 15 crewmembers were later found unharmed, hiding in the ships citadel.
No word on why the video is just now being released.
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