The killing of four U.S. citizens by Somali pirates off East Africa on Tuesday was the latest in a wave of pirate attacks that have plagued the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean in recent years. Global News takes a look back at piracy in the Gulf Aden.
April 11, 2008
French marine commandos raid the luxury yacht Le Ponant. The helicopter raid is successful in freeing the 30 crew members who were held hostage for a week by Somali pirates.
April 21, 2008
Somali pirates open fire on a Japanese oil tanker in Yemeni territorial waters in the Gulf of Aden. The pirates rip a hole in the ship that causes several hundred gallons of fuel to leak into the water.
June 2, 2008
The UN Security Council unanimously adopts a resolution, with Somalia’s consent, to allow countries to send warships into territorial waters to prevent piracy.
August 14, 2008
A Thai cargo ship is hijacked in the Gulf of Aden off Northern Somalia’s coast. There were 28 people aboard.
August 22, 2008
Three ships are seized in the Gulf of Aden. An Iranian ship with 29 crew, a Japanese tanker with 19 crew and a German cargo ship with nine crew are hijacked.
September 5, 2008
Somali pirates demand a $1 million (U.S.) ransom for a French couple aboard a yacht hijacked in the Gulf of Aden.
September 16, 2008
An underwater unit of French special forces storm the yacht and rescue the couple being held.
September 18, 2008
Pirates seize two ships: a Greek salt ship with 25 Filipino crew, and a ship from Hong Kong with 24 Chinese and one Sri Lankan on board.
September 25, 2008
Pirates hijack the Ukrainian cargo ship Faina, and demand a $35 million (U.S.) ransom. The ship is loaded with arms, munitions and 33 Soviet-era T-72 tanks. There are 20 crew members aboard: 17 Ukrainian, two Russians and one Latvian.
September 26, 2008
A Greek tanker is hijacked off the coast of Somalia.
November 12, 2008
Pirates hijack a Turkish tanker off the coast of Yemen.
November 17, 2008
Somali pirates hijack a Saudi-owned tanker off the coast of Kenya. The ship is loaded with more than $100 million (U.S.) in crude oil and has a crew of 25, including two Britons.
The location of the hijacking is the farthest from Somali territorial waters at this time.
Pirates release a hijacked Greek tanker after an unspecified ransom is paid.
November 19, 2008
Pirates open fire on an Indian naval ship in the Gulf of Aden. The Indian ship returns fire and sinks the pirate ship, as pirates escape in two speed boats.
November 20, 2008
Shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk says it will avoid the Gulf of Aden for shipping routes.
November 25, 2008
Reports surface that the pirate ship sunk by the Indian navy a week before may have been a Thai fishing boat that was itself being threatened by pirates. Fourteen sailors are missing and one is confirmed dead.
November 30, 2008
Pirates reportedly come to an agreement with the owners of the Faina. The ransom amount is said to have been reduced from $35 million to $20 million (U.S.), and the parties are allegedly negotiating how the ransom will be paid.
December 9, 2008
Two Somali pirates aboard the Faina claim to have been attacked by hostages. The claims are unconfirmed.
December 17, 2008
Pirates attack four ships in 48 hours in the Gulf of Aden. An Indonesian tugboat, a Turkish cargo ship and a private yacht are hijacked, but a Chinese trawler avoids the pirates with the help of coalition anti-piracy naval patrol.
January 1, 2009
Somali pirates board an Egyptian cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden and take the 28 crew members hostage.
January 10, 2009
The Saudi tanker is released after the ship’s owners pay a $3 million ransom. Dozens of pirates head back to shore.
January 11, 2009
Five of the tanker hijackers drown while heading back to shore. A boat carrying eight pirates capsizes, and one body washes ashore with $150,000 (U.S.).
February 5, 2009
Pirates release the Faina after reportedly being paid a $3.2 million (U.S.) ransom. The captain of the ship died of a heart attack shortly after the ship was seized but other crew members are released safely. My suggestion: All crew members are released unharmed except for the captain, who died of a heart attack shortly after the ship was seized.
March 12, 2009
NATO members approve an operational plan for an anti-piracy mission to the Gulf of Aden. A Canadian ship will be among the flotilla of ships from Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the U.S.
April 2009
Somali pirates hijack U.S. cargo ship Maersk Alabama in the headed for Kenya with 20 American crew members.
Captain Richard Phillips surrendered and was held at gunpoint in a lifeboat. He ordered his crew to hide in a locked room.
The crew was able to take back the ship, but was unable to free their captain. After five days, U.S. Navy snipers shot the pirates, killing three and freeing Phillips.
October 2009
Paul and Rachel Chandler of Britain are kidnapped from their yacht off the Seychelles by Somali pirates and taken to a small village north of Mogadishu.
They threaten to hurt the couple unless seven pirates being held on a German warship are freed.
November 2010
The Chandlers are released after more than a year of captivity. A ransom of around $1 million dollars was reportedly paid for their release.
Canadian Myda Egrmajer was visiting her father, 55-year-old Milan Egrmajer, on his boat when they hit bad weather and docked at a remote lagoon known to boaters in the area as a place to overnight.
It’s not clear what unfolded next, but Milan Egrmajer’s body was found inside the boat by authorities the next day.
Honduran authorities said his body had four bullet wounds to the chest and abdomen.
Myda Egrmajer managed to flee and was taken to neighbouring Belize.
Four Americans taken hostage by Somali pirates off East Africa were shot and killed by their captors Monday, the U.S. military said, marking the first time U.S. citizens have been killed in a wave of pirate attacks plaguing the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean for years.
U.S. naval forces, who were trailing the Americans’ captured yacht with four warships, quickly boarded the vessel after hearing the gunfire and tried to provide lifesaving care to the Americans, but they died of their wounds, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
Two pirates died during the confrontation and 13 were captured and detained.
With files from Postmedia News and The Associated Press
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