MV Beluga Nomination incident
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The MV ''Beluga Nomination'' incident was the capture and attempted liberation of a German freighter from Somali pirates by the
Seychelles Coast Guard The Seychelles Coast Guard (SCG) is a branch of the Seychelles People's Defence Force created in 1993. It is a maritime, military, multi-mission service. They acquired responsibility for search and rescue for vessel incidents as well as environmen ...
and Royal Danish Navy in January 2011. A few days after the taking of MV ''Beluga Nomination'', a Seychelles patrol boat and a Danish flexible support ship, , encountered the pirates and engaged in a failed
rescue operation Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an accident or a dangerous situation. Tools used might include search and rescue dogs, mounted search and rescue ho ...
.


Incident

MV ''Beluga Nomination'' is a multipurpose heavy lift project carrier of
Beluga Shipping Beluga Shipping was a German heavy-lift shipping company in the Hanseatic city of Bremen. It was a world market leader in heavy-lift shipping and also highly innovative in related fields. As such, it was the first to equip ships of its fleet wit ...
and was on a commercial voyage from
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
to the South Korean port of Masan, stopping at the Point Victoria in the Seychelles during the passage through the Indian Ocean. Her crew consisted of twelve men with a Polish
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
, two
Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...
, two Russian and seven
Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
sailors. The incident began on 22 January when pirates in a single
skiff A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-person or small crew. Sailing skiffs have devel ...
, from the mother ship , attacked ''Beluga Nomination'' while she was sailing approximately north of the Seychelles Islands. Automatic weapons fire erupted when the Somalis boarded the freighter, at which time the crew of twelve men sent out a distress call and entered the ship's citadel. The pirates were well armed and well prepared. A blowtorch was brought along and for several hours the Somalis welded their way into the citadel while sailing for the African mainland. The distress call was picked up by allied naval forces operating in the area on 22 January and the closest warship to the scene of ''Beluga Nomination''s seizure was a Seychellois patrol boat, and the Danish command and support ship . Four days later on 26 January, the patrol boat was the first of the two allied ships to find ''Beluga Nomination'', which was around off the Somali coast. A skirmish ensued as boarding parties attempted to retake the freighter while under cover from small naval guns and machine guns. The pirates used
small arms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...
and
rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired missile weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are a ...
s, and ultimately the Seychellois were repelled in their attempts at boarding though they killed one or two pirates. In the confusion, two of ''Beluga Nomination''s crew, a Ukrainian and a Filipino, lowered a lifeboat and escaped by heading towards HDMS ''Esbern Snare''. The two were picked up in healthy condition and they reported that the Somalis killed two of their shipmates and two others were missing and presumed dead after they jumped overboard. The German government issued a statement saying that the two hostages were either killed by the pirates or drowned at sea. When the Danish and the Seychellois realized they had failed the operation, they broke off the engagement and let the pirates go. No casualties were reported other than that of the pirates and the civilians. ''Beluga Nomination'' rendezvoused with ''York'' on the following day. Because of mechanical problems caused by battle damage, both ships then sailed for Somalia. In April the ship was finally released after her owners paid a large
ransom Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice. When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''red ...
.


See also

* List of ships attacked by Somali pirates in 2011 * Piracy in the Caribbean * West Indies anti-piracy operations of the United States


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beluga Nomination incident, MV Conflicts in 2011 Naval battles involving pirates Naval battles involving Denmark Naval battles involving Seychelles Piracy in Somalia 2011 in Somalia Combat incidents Naval battles of Operation Enduring Freedom January 2011 events in Africa