14 Feb 2011

Pirate mother ship captured

8:22 am on 14 February 2011

A NATO warship has captured a suspected pirate mother ship off Somalia.

HDMS Esbern Snare of Denmark fired warning shots on Saturday, forcing the vessel to stop and its crew to surrender.

The BBC reports 16 suspects were captured and a cache of weapons was seized. Two hostages were freed.

NATO said the incident happened on Saturday morning, when the warship came across a suspicious vessel with two skiffs on deck. The fishing vessel was believed to have been hijacked.

NATO and an EU naval force have been escorting merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden since 2008.