ABOARD THE CARLSKRONA — A Russian warship hunted down a hijacked oil tanker and special forces rappelled on board Thursday, surprising the Somali pirates, who surrendered after a 22-minute gunfight. Twenty-three Russian sailors were freed.
The dramatic Indian Ocean rescue came a day after pirates seized the tanker, which was heading toward China carrying $50 million worth of crude. One pirate was killed and 10 others were arrested, officials said.
The Russian destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov had rushed to the scene after Wednesday’s seizure of the Liberian-flagged tanker, Moscow University. After spotting the hijacked vessel early Thursday, the warship fired warning shots from its large-caliber machine gun, undeterred by the tanker’s flammable cargo of 86,000 tons of crude.
Oil tankers don’t even allow crew members to smoke on board because of the risk of igniting the cargo, but the Russian navy decided to move in with weapons after determining the crew had taken refuge in a safe room.
Special-forces troops then rappelled down to the tanker from a helicopter, said Rear Adm. Jan Thornqvist, the European Union’s Naval Force commander. The startled pirates opened fire, and a gunfight ensued that killed one pirate and wounded three before the hijackers surrendered, Russian state news channel Rossiya-24 said.
