Somalia Report: Iranian Warship Thwarts Pirate Hijacking of Oil Tanker

By JD, Somalia Report

The Iranian Navy rescued an oil tanker from an attempted pirate hijacking in the Gulf of Aden on Monday, according to Somali pirates based in Harardhere. These sources added that the pirates involved were from Garacad and Ceel-dhanaane area of Mudug region.

A pirate based in Harardhere area told Somalia Report, “Three groups of pirates were in the Gulf of Aden to attack international vessels. A group from the Garacad area informed their friends that they had attacked an Iranian Oil tanker, but it had been rescued by a warship,” he said.

The pirate source added the pirates were using a mother ship and number of speed boats, “They were a group of pirates using a mother ship and speed boats. When they saw the vessels, they used the speed boats to attack and when the attack failed they returned to their mother ship. We don’t know how many of these pirates are injured, but they are now heading back towards Garacad,” said the pirate.

Another pirate source told Somalia Report that this group of pirates were using the Iranian fishing dhow Al Khaliil, which pirates hijacked last week, but Somalia Report was unable to confirm this.

The Iranian navy, which currently has a warship based in the Red Sea near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, told media that the Iranian Navy had rescued an Iranian oil tanker from pirates. Iranian Navy Rear Admiral Seyed Mahmoud Moussavi said 35 pirates were involved in the thwarted assault. The officials added that the crew of the Iranian oil tanker are in good health and remain unharmed.

Iranian Navy has recently become involved in anti-piracy operations along the Somali coast.

Republished with permission, (c) 2012 SomaliaReport.com

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