The April 2009 raid off Somalia was a military operation conducted by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

to retake the French

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

''Tanit'' on 9 April 2009, a yacht which had been captured by

Somali pirates Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali, ...

on 4 April 2009. It occurred during

Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta, formally European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia, is a current counter-piracy military operation at sea off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean, that is the first naval operation conducted by the Eu ...

, a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

mission in Somali waters. The pirates had attempted to extract a ransom by holding the yacht's occupants hostage, but were ultimately defeated when the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

assaulted them.

Background

''Tanit'', a privately owned French yacht named after the Phoenician lunar goddess, with its five crew and passengers was sailing to

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

when it was boarded by pirates on 4 April. Among the hostages were a family of three including a three-year-old boy, and two friends of the family who joined them in Aden. The ship's owners, the Lemaçons, started from

Vannes Vannes (; br, Gwened) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic Era The name ''Vannes'' comes from the Veneti, a seafaring Celtic people who live ...

in July 2008 and sailed south to the coast of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. This was a family trip "to escape consumer society". They planned to visit

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

and

. Even after meeting with a couple whose yacht, '' Carré d'As IV'', had been captured by pirates, and later rescued by French commandos, they continued on their journey. The pirates headed the vessel for the coast but were overrun two days later by a French frigate. French forces attempted to negotiate with the pirates offering them money and offering to exchange the mother and child for a French naval officer. The pirates declined this. Instead, they were overheard discussing using explosives to blow up the yacht. Floreal-Bora-Bora

Action

Fifty commandos were sent from France to a French base at

Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...

on 9 April, in readiness for the assault. Joined locally by 20 more commandos, they parachuted from a C-130 Hercules plane into the sea, to be picked up by three French warships that had been tracking the pirates, together with a German frigate equipped with hospital facilities. The French attempted to negotiate with the pirates, and even offered to exchange one of the hostages for an officer. The pirates refused to cooperate, stating that they could get better terms once they reached the coast. Seeing the pirates were uncooperative a sniper on-board one of the vessels managed to shoot down the sails and to damage the mast and the yacht. This the French believed would put them in a better negotiating position, but it created havoc on board, causing the pirates to refuse to accede to any of the French demands. Fregatte Mecklenburg-Vorpommern F218

Allegedly, after threats to execute the hostages were heard, the French Navy decided the next day to board the boat and free the hostages. French commandos attacked the hijacked vessel from different directions in two speedboats. The pirates opened fire and the special forces team fired back. French naval commandos then boarded the vessel and rescued the hostages. However, Florent Lemaçon, the boat's captain and father of the three-year-old boy, was being held hostage in his cabin. When French commandos entered, they engaged in a shootout with the pirates, during which Lemaçon was killed.

Aftermath

After the fighting ended the four freed hostages were taken in one of the frigates, to Djibouti, and from there transported back to France. Three pirates were taken to Rennes for questioning. In total, 70 men of the French naval forces, including men of the French commando ''Hubert'', French frigates , and the

aviso An ''aviso'' was originally a kind of dispatch boat or "advice boat", carrying orders before the development of effective remote communication. The term, derived from the Portuguese and Spanish word for "advice", "notice" or "warning", an ...

'' Commandant Ducuing'' and German frigate ''

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...

'' participated in the operation.

References

{{coord missing, Somalia 2009 in Somalia April 2009 events in Africa Conflicts in 2009 Maritime incidents in 2009 Naval battles involving France Naval battles involving Germany Operation Atalanta Operations involving French special forces Piracy in Somalia Naval battles involving pirates Captured ships France–Somalia relations France–Germany military relations Germany–Somalia relations