Fighting Pirates, The Easy Way

Apparently, this pirate bunch mistook FS Nivose (F 732) for a commercial ship. The French were not unprepared.

Two pirate assault boats approached the Nivose "at great speed," Capt. Christophe Prazuck said, but a French helicopter intervened before the attackers had time to fire at the French Navy ship.

The helicopter fired warning shots, he said.

The pirates, who had a mother ship as well as the two assault boats, are being held for questioning on the Nivose, Prazuck said. The vessels were carrying AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, but the pirates did not fire, he said.

The incident took place about 1,000 km (620 miles) east of Mombasa, Kenya, at 8:30 a.m. local time (0430 GMT) he added.

This is an interesting case. he French took 11 prisoners, and it will be interesting if the proactive action by the French Navy to stop the pirate attack before it started will give the French enough to prosecute.

It could be this bunch gets set free, meaning because we stopped the pirates from attacking before they were able to shoot bullets at people, no crime. Under that law, you have to get shot at before you can shoot back, which could also mean any offensive action against pirates would be seen unlawful.