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Sailors, Coasties capture suspected pirates

Surrendering from a rust heap that appeared barely able to float, 17 suspected pirates were captured Wednesday off the coast of Yemen by sailors and Coast Guardsmen operating from the cruiser Gettysburg.

Lt. Nate Christensen, a Navy spokesman at 5th Fleet in Bahrain, said the suspected pirates are still aboard the cruiser, where they were taken for questioning.

“Right now, a determination is being made if they’ll be turned over for prosecution,” he said.

According to a release from 5th Fleet, the Gettysburg and a destroyer from the Republic of Korea, Munmu the Great, responded to a distress call from an Egyptian merchant ship on May 13. The ship, the motor vessel Amira, reported being attacked while 75 miles off Al Mukalla, Yemen. An SH-60B crew from Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light 46, dispatched from Gettysburg, later located what’s being described as a pirate “mothership.”

The boarding teams found eight assault rifles, a rocket-propelled grenade and launcher aboard the suspected pirate ship. The Egyptian ship reported being fired on by suspects in a skiff, who also tried to board by throwing a line over.

Christensen could not say for sure if the suspected pirates are from Somalia, although most ship hijackers in the region live there.

The Gettysburg, based in Mayport, Fla., now serves as the flagship for Combined Task Force 151, the multinational counterpiracy flotilla established in January. CTF 151 is currently commanded by Rear Adm. Caner Bener of Turkey, embarked aboard Gettysburg.

The U.S. Navy’s Rear Adm. Michelle Howard and Rear Adm. Terry McKnight previously commanded the force.