NATO Warship LIMNOS Disrupts Pirates

NATO Warship LIMNOS Disrupts Pirates

Greek warship HS LIMNOS, who is part of NATO’s counter piracy mission, codenamed OCEAN SHIELD, successfully intercepted and disrupted a pirate gang in the Indian Ocean yesterday.

The NATO warship had been on patrol to the north of the Seychelles when pirates in a large whaler towing 2 smaller skiffs, was spotted by a Swedish maritime patrol aircraft. As HS LIMNOS approached the vessel, the ship’s helicopter was launched and observed the pirates throwing weapons, ladders and other piracy equipment into the sea.

On arrival, the ship’s boarding party rapidly took control of the 10 pirates. A thorough search of the boats was then conducted to ensure the pirates could no longer pose a threat to merchant shipping in the area.

HS LIMNOS Operations officer, Lt P Sarantinos GRN said, “Being vigilant, decisive, and adaptive – these are the fundamental pillars of our operations in this area. NATO is determined to deter and disrupt the pirate threat and HS LIMNOS is ready to prove it, wherever and whenever it is required.”

http://www.manw.nato.int/page_operation_ocean_shield.aspx