A French frigate has captured 11 pirates off the coast of Somalia after foiling an attack on a Liberian-flagged merchant ship, the French defence ministry said today.
France's Nivosecaptured the pirates' mothership, which was carrying two small assault boats, 900 km east of Mombasa yesterday, the defence ministry said.
The Nivosehad started tracking the pirates late on Monday after its helicopter thwarted an attack on the Liberian-flagged Safmarine Asia, a merchant ship.
Elsewhere, Somali pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons at another US cargo ship in a failed hijack attempt.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today said the United States will send an envoy to a Somali donors conference this week and seek a broader international effort to fight piracy off the Horn of Africa.
"We may be dealing with a 17th-century crime, but we need to bring 21st century assets to bear," Ms Clinton told reporters at the State Department. The United States will also explore efforts to track and freeze pirate assets, she added.
The latest attacks come just days after US Navy special forces rescued an American hostage after an earlier hijacking.
The attack on the Liberty Sunin international waters off the African coast is further evidence that Somali pirates were back to business as usual.
Pirates have seized four other ships with 60 hostages since US forces killed three gunmen holding American freighter captain Richard Phillips. “No one can deter us,” one bandit boasted.
The Liberty Sun'screw was safe after pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons at the vessel, its owner, Liberty Maritime Corporation said today. There were no injuries but the ship received unspecified damage, the New York-based company said.
A US Navy destroyer, the USS Bainbridge, responded to the attack but the pirates had departed by the time it arrived six hours later, Navy Capt Jack Hanzlik said.
The Bainbridgeis the same destroyer from which the snipers killed the three pirates holding Mr Phillips captive aboard a drifting lifeboat for five days.
The Bainbridgewas carrying Mr Phillips to Kenya when it was called to respond to the attack on the Liberty Sun.
The Liberty Sun, with its crew of about 20, was carrying humanitarian aid to Mombasa, Kenya, Capt Hanzlik said. It continued on its way to Kenya after the attack under navy escort.
The bandits are grabbing more ships and hostages to show they would not be intimidated by President Barack Obama’s pledge to confront the pirates, according to a pirate based in the Somali coastal town of Harardhere.
“Our latest hijackings are meant to show that no-one can deter us from protecting our waters from the enemy because we believe in dying for our land,” Omar Dahir Idle said. “Our guns do not fire water. I am sure we will avenge.”
The pirates have vowed vengeance for five colleagues killed by US and French forces in two hostage rescues since Friday.
The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, said he took the pirates’ threats seriously, but added: “We’re very well prepared to deal with anything like that.”
Mr Phillips (53), of Underhill, Vermont, will return home to the US today, after reuniting with the 19-man crew of the Maersk Alabamain the Kenyan port of Mombasa, according to the shipping company Maersk Line.
Earlier yesterday, Somali pirates hijacked two more cargo vessels and opened fire on a third in attacks.
Agencies