A request for assistance from a South Korean merchant vessel in the Indian Ocean on February 10 led to Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) warship HMS 'Cornwall' securing the release of the Yemeni crew of a pirated dhow from their 17 Somali captors and returning the fishing vessel to its owner.
The UK Royal Navy said items found with the dhow confirmed that it was acting as a "mother ship" for Somali pirates who had captured it on November 11, 2010. HMS 'Cornwall' is currently the Command Platform for Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, the counter-piracy mission of CMF. On February 10, 'Cornwall's' officer of the watch observed a dhow acting suspiciously and received a distress call from the South Korean merchant vessel 'Yong Jin' reporting a potential pirate threat.
HMS 'Cornwall's' arrival on scene disrupted the attack, and the warship's boarding teams, supported overhead by her Lynx helicopter, searched and secured the Yemeni-flagged dhow. An initial search found 22 people on board, three skiffs, powerful outboard motors and various items of equipment associated with pirates boarding merchant vessels, such as ladders, enabling the dhow to act as "mother ship" for a group of pirates operating in the area.