France/Somalia - pirates

Somali pirates mistakenly attack French navy ship

Article published on the 2009-10-08 Latest update 2009-10-08 08:51 TU

French navy fuel tanker La Somme
(Photo: French navy handout/AFP)

The French navy says it captured five Somali pirates who attacked one of its vessels early Wednesday morning off the coast of Somalia. The pirates fired on the French ship, mistaking it for a commercial cargo ship. They tried to get away when they realised their mistake, but were pursued by the French and taken into custody.

The pirates fired on the Somme fuel tanker, according to Admiral Christophe Prazuck, spokesperson for the French navy.

“In the middle of the night she was attacked by two skiffs, and they probably thought they were in front of a commercial ship,” he said. “They rapidly realized that the Somme was not behaving as a commercial ship: she was not trying to run away; on the contrary, the Somme waas heading rapidly towards the pirates. So at that time the pirates turned away and tried to escape.”

The ship was able to catch one of the skiffs and brought in five pirates. No-one was injured.

The 18,000 tonne Somme is acting as command vessel overseeing French air, sea and land forces fighting Somali pirates. It was In the incident in the Gulf of Aden on its way to refuel vessels patrolling shipping lanes as part of the EU’s anti-piracy mission, Operation Atalanta.

“We are still working in the area,” said Prazuck. “We have at least three ships working in the area involved in the anti-piracy operation.”

Dozens of warships from navies around the world have been deployed to the waters off the coast of Somalia over the past year to try to curb attacks by pirates.