Somali troops storm a Dubai-flagged ship, arrest 7 pirates

They released the crew and carried the pirates off in chains Tuesday, April 22, to face trial on pain of death. The semi-autonomous Somali Puntland province government, determined to put a stop to surging piracy for ransom in its waters, has pledged to rescue a Spanish fishing ship held by pirates since the weekend.
debkafile‘s shipping correspondent reports that the Takayama, owned by the giant Japanese shippers NYK was assaulted 150 miles southeast of the Yemeni port of Mukallah on its way to load an oil cargo at the Saudi oil port of Yanbu. Pirates using automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades mounted an attack on the ship but did not board it. Our correspondent notes the increasing audacity of the pirates who this time attacked a 250,000-ton vessel 330 meters long. Fortunately the tanker’s holds were empty, which averted a major ecological disaster.