South Korea and US launch Joint Operation

The South Korean destroyer ROKS Munmu the Great and the US-American cruiser USS Gettysburg launched helicopters in response to a distress call on Wednesday from the MV AMIRA in the Gulf of Aden, a US- Navy statement said.

South Korean and U.S.-American military helicopters then chased suspected Somali pirates away from the Egyptian freighter. South Korea's Joint Chiefs said in a statement Thursday that sharpshooters aboard the South Korean helicopter prepared to fire warning shots. It said the suspected pirate ship stopped pursuing the Egyptian vessel and sped away.

The South Korean warship has been operating off Somalia since last month on a mission to protect South Korean cargo ships from pirates. While en route to the Egyptian-flagged ship, a dhow was spotted that the navies suspected was being used as a pirate "mother ship."

An American search-and-seizure team boarded the dhow and found eight assault rifles, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and one rocket-propelled grenade, the US-Navy said. All 17 people aboard the boat were detained. It was the first time the anti-piracy task force CTF 151 had captured suspected pirates, the US-Navy said.

The U.S. Navy says the17 suspected pirates have been apprehended after an attack on an Egyptian ship it brought the alleged pirates on board the USS Gettysburg for further questioning.

Source:Ecoterra Intl, May 15, 2009

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