SKorea Special Forces Storm Ship to Save Crew From Pirates
- Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:14am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean special forces stormed a hijacked freighter in the Arabian Sea on Friday, rescuing all 21 crew members and killing eight assailants in a rare and bold raid on Somali pirates.
The military operation in waters between Oman and Africa – that also captured five pirates and left one crew member wounded – came a week after the Somali attackers seized the South Korean freighter and held hostage eight South Koreans, two Indonesians and 11 citizens from Myanmar.
“We will not tolerate any behavior that threatens the lives and safety of our people in the future,” South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said in a brief televised statement, adding that the rescue was a “perfect operation.”
In photos of the operation, a small boat loaded with South Korean forces can be seen alongside the freighter. Some commandos already aboard the ship appear to be hauling others up. In other images, pockmarks from artillery fire blanket the ship’s bridge.
The successful raid is a triumph for Lee, whose government suffered harsh criticism at home in the weeks following a North Korean attack in November on a South Korean island near disputed waters. Critics said Lee’s military was too slow and weak in its response to the attack, which killed two marines and two civilians.
With a South Korean destroyer and a Lynx helicopter providing covering fire, South Korea’s special navy forces stormed the hijacked vessel in a pre-dawn rescue operation that left eight of the pirates dead and five captured, Lt. Gen. Lee Sung-ho told reporters.
The captain of the ship was shot by a pirate and taken by a U.S. helicopter to a nearby country for treatment, but the wound is not life-threatening, Lt. Gen. Lee said. The 20 other crew members were rescued unharmed, he said.
“This operation demonstrated our government’s strong will to never negotiate with pirates,” the general said.
Storming a ship held by pirates is rare and navies tend to avoid it because of the risk of harming hostages, who are usually kept below decks out of sight. So rescues are not normally attempted once the pirates are onboard the ship unless the crew is locked in a safe room – often called a “citadel” – with two way communications.
Authorities did not immediately give details on the location of crew members during the rescue.
The 11,500-ton chemical carrier Samho Jewelry was sailing from the United Arab Emirates to Sri Lanka when it was hijacked. It was the second vessel from South Korea-based Samho Shipping to be hijacked in the past several months.
In November, Somali pirates freed the supertanker Samho Dream and its 24 crew – five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos – after seven months of captivity.
Samho Shipping did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
The Bahrain-based U.S. 5th Fleet referred all questions to South Korea, although it said the U.S. Navy was aware of the event.
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991. Piracy has flourished off its coast, sometimes yielding multimillion-dollar ransoms. The ransoms the pirates get are among the few regular sources of income for small businesses that supply the pirates with food and other goods.
In April 2009, a French navy commando team stormed the yacht Tanit. The shootout killed two pirates and one French hostage and freed four French citizens.
In the same year, U.S. navy snipers also shot three pirates who were holding an American captain hostage in a lifeboat after they had abandoned a larger ship, the Maersk Alabama.
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Comments (123)
Neil Mariner
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 10:30amI could expect nothing less from the South Korean troops. I seen them function in Nam. The Pirates didn’t stand a snowballs chanc e in hell. Hooraa.
Report Post »johnniereb
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 10:26am@ entropa,
Report Post »I would like to see you say that to a South korean Marine. THey are far from spineless, as you suggest. I applaude their actions and am proud to have spent time in their country
JJBlazeReader
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 10:16am.
The surviving pirates are lucky. Last May when the Russians re-took one of their ships they captured about 12 pirates “released them and set them adrift at sea and somehow they mysteriously died at sea”.
I haven’t heard of a Russian ship being hijacked since.
Report Post »clockwatcher
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 10:14amWhy did they take anyone alive???? These members of the religion of peace should all have be dating their 69, 86, whatever number of virgins by now.
Report Post »ForeignWatcher
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 4:19pmAny good christians here? no? thought so….
Report Post »JCoolman
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 9:59amGreat job SKorea. You have to put an element of doubt in the minds of the pirates. Once they know you wont let them get away with acts such as this, they will stop. The unfortunate thing is that the pirates will just move on to ships from another country. But, maybe the other countries should take a page out of SKorea’s book.
Report Post »Cabo King
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 9:58amgood work, the way it should be done!!!!!!
Report Post »chuck
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 9:26amkeeeka-arsssa!
Report Post »texasfarmer
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 9:17amThat’s something the Wimp in Chief would not have done.
Report Post »wash1776
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 9:16amHow come it is the little countries that have guts? We have an apologizing, wimpy communist running the white house. Guess he is enjoying his lobster, steak dinner with wine at over $200.00 a bottle with the chinese president. So why care about any of the rest of us? HE IS SELFISH TO THE CORE!
Report Post »Thighmaster
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 9:05amNOW they have the right to remain silent..
Report Post »Marine Recon Dad
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 9:03amI am glad that the SKorean government isn’t ruled by the PC class. This is, unfortunately, how we weigh ever decision – how the International Community looks at us. The only way they should see is is STRONG. Quick, decisive action is how we achieve that view.
Out
Report Post »Marine Recon Dad
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:55amYes, I do remember. And there is a backstory to that rescue – the snipers made a decision that Barry wouldn’t.
As to ‘our guys’ doing the operation? No. The South Korean Special Forces are a well trained force, receiving help from us. I do agree, though, that our presence in their country is aiding them, and that we should receive compensation for it, but to infer that they are incapable of doing anything closely relating to this operation is wrong.
Oh, and we “don’t have to tip toe through S**t”? … look at the dialog coming out of AZ. Sounds like someone step into some….
Report Post »Dustoff
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:54amAhhhh . Last time I checked, were in Korea by UN mandate and support that nation. Not that it really matters.
S-Korea doesn’t have a huge Navy or Air Force like we do.
Is your coffee sour this morning?
Report Post »RLTW
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:51amYou don’t know much do you?
Report Post »RugDog
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:46amSome instant justice and shark feeding would be nice.
Report Post »ForeignWatcher
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 4:20pmLike jesus taught us!
Report Post »lcassavaugh
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:42amSouth Korea – you’re my hero! The USA used to be like that……
Report Post »82dAirborne
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:35amThis kind of operation needs to happen each & every time the pirates strike. The aim should be to kill as many of the bad actors as possible. The Somali pirates are highly motivated – they can go from starving to having millions of dollars almost overnight. It will take an extremely strong (deadly) message to dissuade them. Word will travel fast that pirating will earn you an unmarked grave instead of a pile of cash.
Report Post »Marine Recon Dad
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 9:13amAmen!
Report Post »Insipid
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 10:01amI could not have said it better myself.
Report Post »ForeignWatcher
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 4:21pmDoes this work if its either starving to death or pirating?
Report Post »ar49424
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:34amExcellant job S. Korea Military!!
Report Post »mikenleeds
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:32amgreat jobs guy , am sure it was some muslins pirates ,, they should try to get a job
Report Post »ForeignWatcher
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 4:22pmWow…try to get a job..why havent they thought about that?
Report Post »Try to find out what somalia really is before drawing conclusions, mh?
DesertRose1960
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:28amI attended a panel discussion at a Naval event, there were four, four-star Admirals on the panel, one Coast Guard, one Canadian, two USN. They were all adement about taking care of Somalia, rather than fighting a small group of guys in tiny, open rubber boats. Somali fishermen became pirates because other countries fished out their fishing grounds. The first way to combat them is to have
Report Post »lookouts posted, and outrun them. The second thing, close the bulwark doors to the desks. The third thing, hang barbed wire over the sides, most pirates don’t have shoes. Fourth, have a water cannon. Lastly, have armed guards. The ships that are overrun are usually lacking these things, sometimes, they can’t even find out who owns the ship. When the pirates are caught, they are tried in the country whose ship was attacked or they are tried in Kenya or Tanzania. The pirates who attacked the U.S. Navy ship were tried in New York City. The pirates put to sea, sometimes 1500 miles to sea in boats that Americans would only use for pleasant river cruises. They are desparate, and there is no government to control them.
Insipid
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 9:59amI can understand the compassion but they are still criminals. They are not stealing food or resources to feed or clothe their families. They are hijacking ships for large sums of money. I can understand times are hard but that does not justify breaking the law.
Report Post »DesertRose1960
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 10:23am@insipid, Well, you can‘t break something that doesn’t exist. Somolia has no law. It is a failed state, gangs of hoods roam the streets and steal from anyone they can. Yes, they are stealing to buy shoes and clothes and food. They started out boarding fishing vessels to extract a bounty to replace the money they lost fishing. Now they go after ships to get money to buy what they need. Do you realize how desparate you have to be to climb into an open 20 foot boat and head 1500 miles out to sea without shoes and only the clothes on your back? Most of the pirates are in their teens. These guys are living in crushing povety, poverty that you can’t even imagine. I can’t recall the average figure I was given for ransoms, but it isn’t a huge sum. It might represent years of income for these young men. Those Admirals knew that, and had compassion for them. But the panel agreed that the best way to deal with the pirates was to stablize Somalia.
Report Post »DirectlyUnPCman
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 1:06pmThen nuke the whole damn site.
Report Post »DesertRose1960
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 2:06pm@Directlyunpcman, I’ll be you consider yourself the model of a Compasionate Christian Conservative patriot.. So, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?
Report Post »ForeignWatcher
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 4:15pmYeah, many a good christians on the blaze for sure…
Report Post »Ialmostforgot
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:27amTHIS is not a game!
Report Post »Bearfoot
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 4:03pmThis is not a game. We find ourselves in a very dangerous world, where at a moments notice we are in very dire circumstances. Violence can terminate our lives at any time. Take each day as a gift from God, and pray for God’s Kingdom to come. It is our only hope.
Report Post »Jsh1284
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:24amI didn’t realize it was way back in 09 when that Captain was saved by our snipers. Doesn’t seem like it was that far back! Oh well!
This is great news! Good to see someone stand up to those pirate scumbags! Wish we could have seen some video .. because I love watching experts in action!
Report Post »Marine Recon Dad
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:49amThere is a back story on that.. seems like the snipers took out the hijackers WITHOUT the ‘go’ from Barry. Got into a heap of hot water over that, but GOOD FOR THEM!!!
Report Post »J.C. McGlynn
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 12:28pmTo MRD: One of the greatest speeches was given by a president who had the brass ones to back it up – J. F. Kennedy. We need someone like him again.
Report Post »Marine Recon Dad
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 3:29pmAgreed, J.C. Also someone like Reagan. Heck, I‘d take Jack Ryan from Tom Clancey’s books ANYDAY!
Report Post »sarg356
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:22amShould hang the dead bodies over the side for everyone to see!
Report Post »hkyfan36
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:56amI totaly agree
Report Post »Old Truckers
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 11:11amI don‘t understand why these ship’s do not have the capabilities to protect themselves from pirates. Sink them before they even get on board. It is called self defense. The shipping companies should have trained people to man guns on every ship. Have video of the event to prove their self defense posture and sink them.
Report Post »Is you is o is you aint mah constituency
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 3:27pmWith their bodies slathered with bacon fat
Report Post »ForeignWatcher
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 4:13pmI see many a good christian here…
sarg356
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:20amhooo- rah!
Report Post »Buck Bagaw
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 10:47amIndeed!! I’m guessing the pirates will now be a bit more selective in their choice of victims.
Report Post »DisillusionedDaily
Posted on January 22, 2011 at 9:23pmThe Somali pirates once made the mistake of capturing a Russian ship. In retaking the vessel, the pirate leader somehow suffered wounds that proved fatal while he was being treated in hospital. The other pirates were rounded up by the Russians and set adrift in a lifeboat. No one ever saw them again. As an aside, no other Russian ships have been molested in those waters!
And………it is my opinion that ForeignWatcher is an idiot!
Report Post »Marine Recon Dad
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:20amWay to go, guys!!! Wish we could do the same, but we have the political minefield to tip toe through. What they did is the way to put the fear into the hijacker community….
Report Post »“STOP (BANG) OR I WILL SHOOT….”
NickDeringer
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:34amAmerica has been emasculated by our first woman president. If O’Barry must act like a woman, why couldn’t it be Margaret Thatcher?
Report Post »Cemoto78
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:36amThis is the way to take back control over these so-called pirates. Excellent work on behalf of the S. Korean forces.
Report Post »Armed Patriot
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:47amThats what you do with MARINES, you use them. See nobama… Thats what YOU should have done. I like the added touch of all the bullet holes in the ship.lol.
Report Post »Dustoff
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 8:49amHaul the bad guys on deck. Over the side. Hope you can swim.
Report Post »Ironmaan
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 9:03amAhhhh, the practical application of violence on display. How refreshing.
Report Post »http://guerillatics.com
jblovesAmerica
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 9:23amif we know where these bad guys are based-several sorties-if we know which boats/ships are bad guys several sorties.
Report Post »get to the hornets nest and destroy.
Untameable-kate
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 9:32amNow Nick, that’s unfair, when I saw the story I was thinking that it would put a halt to all this pirate idiocy if every country would just go in and take the ships back. It is not an emasculation problem it is a coward problem. God forbid he (BO) makes anyone mad or most of the other world leaders for that matter Although you have to give him credit for the rescue he OK’d using the SEALS to shoot those basturds
Report Post »snowleopard3200 {cat folk art}
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 10:09amExactly!!!
Best way to deal with pirates and terrorists: “Halt! (Bang, thud) Oh well.”
Report Post »snowleopard3200 {cat folk art}
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 10:09am@Nick
Margret Thatcher would be a godsend compared to Mr Obama.
Report Post »Sam I am
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 10:17amOne word to solve the problem:
Report Post »BLACKWATER.
bullcrapbuster
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 11:08am@desertrose……….BULLCRAP
Report Post »ForeignWatcher
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 4:12pmYeah, blackwater is the answer, for sure. just go in, kill everyone and their dog, including the crew an *poof*, pirate problem solved…
Report Post »Ookspay
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 6:27pmThere is nothing like trained professionals doing their job, deadly force with prejudice. Those khat chompin’ punks got what they deserved. Nice job Men!
Report Post »happyboy
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 7:44pmJOB WELL DONE
Americans think you deserve to have some of those new nukes we make. Our kind are much better than those NK type.
Report Post »DisillusionedDaily
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 10:05pmI admire the size of South Korean balls and truly wish Mr. Obama would allow the brass to run the Americam military.
Report Post »leumas
Posted on January 21, 2011 at 10:51pmThat’s the happy ending we all love!
Report Post »Marine Recon Dad
Posted on January 22, 2011 at 2:24amDear Mr. Foreignwatcher.
I know that you don’t like strong people or strong positions, but before you bash someone you don’t think is “Christian” enough because he is willing to defend others, research the KJV and you will find that Christ does command us to defend the helpless. HE also commands us to defend Israel. Now, a Liberal really doesn’t like to be pricked by that conviction, but then again you won’t find a Liberal willing to lay his life down for his fellow man, irregardless of race, creed, socio-economic background, sexual persuasion or nationality. Take the time and visit the cemetaries in foreign lands that contain the remains of American heros of past that never came home to loved ones.
…. I doubt that Christ didn’t let then in to sit next to Him…..
Report Post »ForeignWatcher
Posted on January 22, 2011 at 3:29amYepyep, just the same, storming up a normandy beach on d-day to free europe from hitler and nuking somali villages. Just one of the many fine ideas around here…
Report Post »GONESURFING
Posted on January 22, 2011 at 3:59amWay to go.
Report Post »canyousmellmenow
Posted on January 22, 2011 at 12:47pmRecon Dad, you could not be more right.
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