U.S. Navy foils pirate attack in Arabian Sea

An SH-60B Sea Hawk helicopter and a rigid-hull inflatable boat from the guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf monitor the Philippine-flagged merchant vessel M/V Falcon Trader II, which had sent out a distress call reporting it had been boarded by pirates.

/ U.S. Navy/MC Robert Guerra

U.S. Naval forces disrupted the attempted hijacking of a Filipino merchant ship in the Arabian Sea Thursday, the Pentagon reported.

All 20 Filipino crew members of the M/V Falcon Trader II are safe.

The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and guided missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf, which were conducting operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, received a distress call at about 10:30 a.m. local time Thursday from the Falcon Trader II, a Philippine-flagged merchant vessel. It reported that suspected pirates in a small skiff were attempting to board the vessel.

A subsequent message from the Falcon Trader II reported that pirates had boarded, and that the crew had secured themselves in a safe room, from which they maintained control over the ship's steering and propulsion.

The Enterprise and Leyte Gulf each deployed a helicopter to investigate. At the scene, the Enterprise's HS-11 helicopter fired warning shots to dissuade the pirates from continuing their attack. Two pirates were witnessed jumping off the bow of the Falcon Trader II into their skiff and fled, pursued by the HS-11.

The pirates shot small weapons fire at the helicopter as the skiff attempted to rendezvous with a larger vessel suspected to be its "mother ship." The Navy helicopter and its crew were unharmed, and returned to the hijack scene to continue reconnaissance.

A member of the guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf's visit, board, search and seizure team shakes hands with the master of the Philippine-flagged merchant vessel M/V Falcon Trader II.

/ U.S. Navy/MC Robert Guerra

"We could definitely see the muzzle flashes from their AK-47s, but we weren't hit," said Lt. Joshua A. Overn, a pilot aboard the helicopter.

A Leyte Gulf crewmember fluent in the Filipino language of Tagalog monitored the Falcon Trader and its crew overnight for suspicious activity. In the morning a team from the Leyte Gulf boarded the ship, confirmed no pirates were still on board, and contacted the crew that it was clear to exit the safe room.

Capt. Eugene Black, commanding officer of Leyte Gulf, said the incident demonstrated the "inherent flexibility and capability" of the strike group to enact counter-piracy operations while conducting its defense missions.

[alexander029]

if the navy did fire back, sinking the skiff then sinking the mother ship. the outrage from the world would be great. not that i agree, the choice made to let these scum leave is a decision left to the captain of the USN ship. one solution to fight the pirates would have armed men on these ships to combat these pirates. fight fire with fire.

[Ordflyer]

So why didn't the world's finest Navy finish the job and take out the "Mother Ship"? They already were fired upon - do that to a Sheriff and see what happens....Seriously we should be taking those scum out.

[Empire--George---]

This is the whole reason the our Navy was created in the first place, to protect merchant shipping from pirate attack....embarassing, that we have politically correct top leadership, that doesn't understand the brutal reality of what's going on......causious dithering is not what we need.....we need devestating quick strikes.

[Nmmrng]

But it is a world problem and should be a very multinational patrol effort.

[jkm49]

It is a multinational effort Nm, the Soviets, Brits, Aussies, I think the Chinese navy to. It just so happens the Enterprise was the closet ship to the incident. Washington screwed up again, hopefully the escapees won't come back and bite us in the butt by killing some other innocent sailor or civilian. As far as I am concerned we should take a chapter out of the past use by the Royal Navy, hang em from the yard arm, or better yet keel haul the vermin.

[Empire--George---]

by bulldog1309 March 26, 2011 10:49 AM EDT

AK-47's are not "BB guns" they are a large cal. automatic rifle.....the prirates fleed and got away.....what did you think the pilots of the helicopter were going to do, while taking fire from the pirates ? they fired back, but still.....they did everything they could, and it resulted in the pirates stopping their attack, so it worked.

[cbsblogger]

It is more than strange that the USA did not engage these pirates and take them out. Why? They could put an end to this absurdity of pirate actions in the 21st century by engaging each and every pirate instead of permitting them to slip away.

[Empire--George---]

We should have thought of that, before electing you know.

[royrogers1948]

@ Empire, you know who has done more than you know who did.

[bulldog1309]

We spend billions of dollars a year on weapons design,and manufacturing. We can conduct two wars simutaneously. Allow thousands of our troops to be wounded and killed. Yet, we cant kill some PIRATES IN A ROWBOAT WITH BB GUNS! ***!

[Tarzan98]

The captain of the Navy ship is a wimp.

[RedWings_ninety_one]

Might I inquire as to how?

[Empire--George---]

by RedWings_ninety_one March 26, 2011 10:32 AM EDT
Might I inquire as to how?
_________

Maybe because they didn't follow through, persue the "mother ship" and kill the pirates once and for all......now, they are free to hijack their next boat.....the Captain of that vessel, could have opened up with cannon on them too.....I think he did what he could, and stopped the attack, which is good.

[Mungam44]

Who the hell is running this military and what are they thinking?? Knowing that armed pirates are operating in the area, why would one send an UNARMED helicopter into that region?? ALL aircraft should be armed and, if shot at, they should be ordered to blow those two bit thugs out of the water! It is amazing how a bunch of rag tag 3rd world pirates are holding the international community hostage. Until the world gets serious about striking at the source of this problem it will just drag, and drag, and drag!!!

[RedWings_ninety_one]

Once we face the crisis head on, people (posssibly like yourself) will be agianst it. Happened in Afghanistan and happened in Iraq. With Qaddafi, we are still in the phase of being mostly all for what we are doing.

[jkm49]

And more innocent sailors and civilians will die or be in harms way.

[hughglass]

They fired at our guys and we didn't sink the skiff and the mother ship! Welcome to CiC girlieman's navy.

[bobnjersey]

[A member of the guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf's visit, board, search and seizure team shakes hands with the master of the Philippine-flagged merchant vessel M/V Falcon Trader II.]
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this picture is reminiscent of the 'mission accomplished' photo shoot following the iraq invasion in 2003. the guided missile cruiser is perfectly positioned at the center of the shot ... just above the handshake ... surely intended to project the image of success/security. nicely done usn ... all ended well.