Hanjin Tianjin: Turks scare, pirates abandon ship

Turkish frigate, TCG Giresun, of NATO’s counter-piracy taskforce, just 80 miles away from the container ship at the time of the pirate attack, first arrived at the scene. It provided necessary information to help South Korea’s 4,500-ton destroyer Choi Young which arrived at the scene at 4:40 p.m..
Naval commandos of the Cheonghae Unit, a South Korean anti-piracy contingent operating off the Somali coast, boarded the 75,000-ton Hanjin Tianjin and found that all crew members remained unharmed inside the citadel, a bulletproof safety zone in the ship.

The commandos searched the vessel with 14 South Koreans and six Indonesians aboard and found no pirates aboard, officials said.


The Panamanian-registered ship owned by South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co. lost contact at around 5:15 a.m. Thursday when it was in waters some 460 miles east of the Somali coast. It was sailing from Spain to Singapore.

The crew members were found in the zone at around 7:30 p.m. and are currently in good health, officials said.

The commandos also discovered three live bullets of AK rifles presumed to be owned by Somali pirates and multiple footprints of bare feet, all of which indicate that pirates attempted to hijack the vessel, officials said.

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CHOI YOUNG: ROKN destroyer to Tripoli

ROKN destroyer CHOI YOUNG changed plans and now due Tripoli to take evacuees to Malta back

ROKN Choi Young (DDH-981) s a Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin class destroyer in the South Korean navy
Class and type: Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin class destroyer
Displacement: 4,400 metric tons (4,300 long tons) standard
5,520 metric tons (5,430 long tons) full load
Length: 150 m (492 ft 2 in)
Beam: 17.4 m (57 ft 1 in)
Draft: 9.5 m (31 ft 2 in)
Propulsion: Combined diesel or gas
Speed: 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range: 10,200 kilometres (5,500 nmi)
Complement: 200

Italian corvette FENICE is at Valletta.

Fenice (F 557)
Type: corvette
Displacement: 1285 tonnes
Length: 87 m
Beam: 10.5 m
Draught: 3.2 (4.8) m
Propulsion: 2 Diesel Grandi Motori Trieste BM-230.20 DVM outputting 11.000 HP (8.088 kW)
Speed: 25 knots
Range: 3,500 nm at 18 knots
Complement: 7 officers, 113 men
Sensors and
processing systems:

AA/ASu-Radar Selenia SPS-774 (RAN 10S) E/F Band
1 SMA SPS-728 Navigation radar
Sonar: Raytheon/Elsag DE-1167
Electronic warfare
and decoys:

Fire control: 1 Selenia SPG-75 (RTN 30X) for Albatros and 76mm
Communication: IPN-10 (Mini-SADOC), Link 11
Armament:

1 Otobreda 76 mm
Sea Sparrow or Selenia Aspide in a 8-cell launcher
6 × 324mm TLS ASW torpedoes
4 heavy machine guns

Samho Jewelry: the captured piratesand corpses

Seok Hae-gyun, the ship’s 58-year-old captain, was rushed to Oman’s Port of Salalah and had a five-hour operation shortly after Jan. 21's rescue. Seok was shot several times by a pirate believed to be the leader when special forces began the rescue. The shooter was captured by the Korean military.Eight pirates were killed and five captured. Three special forces soldiers were also wounded during the mission.
The Samho Jewelry, escorted by the 4,500-ton Navy destroyer Choi Young, sailed to the Muscat, Oman’s capital. Although the ships are close to their destination, they are to enter the port on January 27, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, as more time is needed to discuss how to handle the captured pirates and the corpses of those killed during the rescue. Despite the risks involved, Seok secretly mixed water with engine oil to stop its engines, the military said, which significantly slowed the ship. He also changed the ship’s course to ensure it remained in international waters as long as possible to assist the rescue operation. Joongang

Hoang Son Sun: rescued by ROKN Seals?

Hoàng Sơn Bulker may have been the 'Mongolian vessel nearby' stormed before the South Korean Navy rescued its own Samho Jewelry. here Friday's rescue operation came after a brief gun battle on Tuesday when the South Korean destroyer Choi Young detected Somali pirates who apparently got off the vessel to hijack a Mongolian vessel nearby.

The South Korean special forces aboard a fast-sailing Navy boat and a Lynx helicopter were dispatched to rescue the Mongolian vessel, sparking the gun battle.


Earlier

Samho Jewelry: retaken by storming ROKN Seals

South Korean destroyer Choi Young, with some 300 special troops, pursued the 11,500-ton Samho Jewelry and special forces stormed the Samho Shipping Co. earlier today and freed all hostages,"the forces captured five pirates alive. There were 13 pirates aboard the Samho Jewelry.
The South Korean captain of the ship suffered a gunshot wound to his stomach during the operation, but his condition is not life-threatening, Lee said. As the operation began, the destroyer and Lynx helicopters fired warning shots in the air after the elite forces silently approached the deck of the Samho Jewelry. Armed with AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, the pirates put up resistance and the South Korean forces immediately returned fire.

The operation, which took place in high seas about 1,300 kilometers off northeast Somalia, lasted about five hours. Tuesday's firefight left several pirates missing, and they are believed to have been killed, though their bodies have not been found, officials said. Three South Korean soldiers suffered minor injuries and were sent to a hospital in Oman.

Friday's rescue operation came after a brief gun battle on Tuesday when the South Korean destroyer Choi Young detected Somali pirates who apparently got off the vessel to hijack a Mongolian vessel nearby.

The South Korean special forces aboard a fast-sailing Navy boat and a Lynx helicopter were dispatched to rescue the Mongolian vessel, sparking the gun battle.

Samho Jewelry: MOFAT rules out ransom

KDX-II class



The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFAT) ruled out the possibility of paying ransom or negotiating with hostage takers.
The hijacked chemical tanker, named Samho Jewelry, belongs to Samho Shipping, the same company that suffered a major setback after its 300,000-ton tanker and its 24 crew were hijacked by Somali pirates last year.

It has been only two months since Somalia pirates released the crew of the oil tanker after holding them hostage for 217 days in return for a record ransom of more than over $9 million.
A multinational fleet, comprising of DDH 981 Choi Young KDX-II destroyer, and other vessels from the U.S., NATO member states, Russia and India, has been patrolling the Indian Ocean waters to clamp down on piracy.
Officials from MOFAT said Cheonghae unit’s 4,500-ton destroyer Choi Young began to move toward the hijacked freighter, but it would take at least two days to reach it.
They also confirmed the safety of all crew members of the freighter. Korea Times
earlier