ROK Navy Rescue Cargo Ship, Capture Somali Pirates

by Robert Koehler on August 6, 2009

Next time you see a Korean sailor, buy him a drink:

South Korean naval forces deployed off the coast of Somalia rescued a Bahaman commercial ship from pirates Wednesday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) in Seoul said.

In the seventh operation of its kind, a group of 30 UDT/SEAL forces aboard rigid inflatable speedboats, backed by a Lynx attack helicopter, seized seven pirates trying to hijack the cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden. They conducted the operation at the request of the Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, a multinational naval task force to combat piracy in the Somalia littorals.

Then again, maybe hold off on the drinks:

The pirates were released after being given warnings, JCS officials said.

I guess we don’t hang ‘em from the yardarm anymore. Anyone know if this is standard policy?

Tagged as: Somalia

{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

1 seouldout August 6, 2009 at 10:50 am: Did a sincere apology precede the release? And did the Somalis accept it?
2 R. Elgin August 6, 2009 at 11:04 am: I appears that under international law, pirates can not be held if they are captured in international waters because of a lack of laws covering this problem. This is not a case of Korea acquiescing to pirates:

. . . he rise of savvy Somali pirates also presents an oceanic legal problem: no clear, practical legal regime exists for the world to capture and try pirates. And there’s no reliable place to evaluate the evidence or hold them accountable for their crimes.
Where to try the young Somali pirate captured in the rescue of US Capt. Richard Phillips on April 12 points to the issue. The US may try him on American soil or in a special Kenyan pirate court. Either way, a trial would be a rarity.
In fact, most captured pirates, who are usually not kingpins anyway, are simply turned loose on or close to shore.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0415/p06s07-wogn.htm
3 globalvillageidiot August 6, 2009 at 11:11 am: R Elgin is correct. Canadian and other naval forces have caught pirates on many occasions, and they criminals in question don’t find themselves being tried in a court of law. While one might argue it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to sink the bastards outright – whatever the legalities involved – it tends to be the case that their weapons – usually assault rifles and sometimes RPGs – are confiscated, and the pirates are released.