The MV ''York'' is a tanker for transport of

liquefied gas Liquefied gas (sometimes referred to as liquid gas) is a gas that has been turned into a liquid by cooling or compressing it. Examples of liquefied gases include liquid air, liquefied natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas. Liquid air At the ...

that after its 2010 capture 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, ...

had become a

mothership A mother ship, mothership or mother-ship is a large vehicle that leads, serves, or carries other smaller vehicles. A mother ship may be a maritime ship, aircraft, or spacecraft. Examples include bombers converted to carry experimental airc ...

for pirate operations. The vessel was released on March 10, 2011, after an unknown amount of ransom had been paid.

Piracy target

On its way from

Mombasa, Kenya Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

, to

Mahé, Seychelles Mahé is the largest island of Seychelles, with an area of , lying in the northeast of the Seychellean nation in the Somali Sea part of the Indian Ocean. The population of Mahé was 77,000, as of the 2010 census. It contains the capital city ...

, the vessel was captured by Somali pirates about 205 miles off the coast of Kenya on 23 October 2010. It is possible that the FV ''Golden Wave 305'', a pirate-seized South Korean fishing boat that allegedly had been fishing illegally off the Somali coast, was used in the capture of the MV ''York''. (Archived by WebCite® at ) That the ''York'' entered service as a mothership for pirate operations was suspected in December 2010, and confirmed in January 2011, when the ''York'' was used by pirates to assist taking control of the captured MV ''Beluga Nomination'' in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

. The ''Beluga'' had run out of its fuel (using apparently the day tank) and was unable to move. Several hours later the ''York'' appeared and assisted the captured ship so that the ''Beluga'' could resume its course towards Somalia.(Archived by WebCite® at )

Piracy mothership

The MV ''York'' became part of a fleet of captured merchant vessels that have been called "Large Pirate Support Vessels" (LPSVs)(Archived by WebCite® at ) and been considered "game-changing" in view of the increased operational capabilities. Previously

dhow Dhow ( ar, داو, translit=dāwa; mr, script=Latn, dāw) is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with settee or sometimes lateen sails, used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Typically spo ...

s and fishing boats had been used as motherships. This new strategy of using merchant vessels was initiated with the pirate-seized MV ''Izumi'' in the fall of 2010. (Archived by WebCite® at ) The use of merchant vessels enlarges the range of operations, increases transit speed, allows more pirates and skiffs to be taken along, provides better accommodations, gives access to radar and navigational technology, and reduces dependency on sea and weather conditions. Using a larger ship, the pirates can attack a ship of equal size and apply heavier weapons from a more stable firing platform. The presence of hostages on such ships poses a problem for naval forces out to protect shipping lanes. The size of the ship, however, makes it easier to detect them and avoid them. By the end of 2010 four other merchant vessels were used as pirate motherships, namely the chemical tanker , the tanker , the chemical tanker , and the MV ''Izumi''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:York 2000 ships Merchant ships of Singapore Tankers Piracy in Somalia Maritime incidents in 2010 Maritime incidents in 2011