A Chinese ship crew bravely fought off pirates yesterday by keeping the pirates out of the crew quarters until international help could arrive after the pirates boarded their ship, the Zhenhua 4.
From AFP:
“I’m actually very surprised that the crew managed to hold back the pirates. I don’t know how they did it, but they did it,” said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur.
“Because of this action, the military helicopters came and they managed to chase the pirates away. The pirates on board eventually left the ship and the master is proceeding on his course,” he told AFP.
This comes just as the UN has authorized land and sea attacks on the Somali pirates from all military forces. There’s a bit of a problem here as the attacking military must seek permission from Somalia’s government first, but it should help matters in the shipping lanes off the gulf of Aden. See previous report here.
It’s about time the UN did something constructive…
The pirates might have bitten off too much with the Chinese ship. Something tells me that the Chinese might ask for permission from Somalia’s Government but they are going to protect their ships regardless. Should be interesting to see what happens.