The Rescue of MV Full City

Yesterday there were a lot of unofficial reports and rumors surrounding the hijacking of the MV Full City, a Panama flagged, Chinese owned ship with a crew of 24 Chinese nationals. Reports were sketchy though, suggesting several ships including 2 Chinese warships were bearing down on the ship.

The only detail known was that the crew had successfully barricaded themselves inside the citadel - setting up a potential confrontation between naval forces and pirates. The race was on, and India got there first.

New Delhi/Mumbai, May 6 Prompt action by the Indian Navy staved off a pirate attack on a Chinese cargo vessel far out in the Arabian Sea, forcing the brigands to flee and earning kudos from the authorities in Beijing, a senior naval official said Friday.

An Indian Navy TU-142 maritime reconnaissance aircraft made several low sorties over the MV Full City, 450 nautical miles (850 km) off Karwar in Karnataka, warning the pirates to immediately leave the vessel or face the wrath of Indian Navy and Coast Guard ships that were fast closing in.

The warnings worked and the pirates scampered into the skiff from which they had boarded the vessel and sailed toward a nearby mothership, which immediately set off toward Somalia at full speed, the official said, requesting anonymity due to service rules.

The aircraft stayed on station for four hours till the Indian combat vessels arrived on the scene in an operation that was closely coordinated with a NATO Task Force, a Chinese Task Force and the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre at Beijing, highlighting the international cooperation in the anti-piracy efforts in the Indian Ocean, the official said.

But the Chinese skip that part of the story, and tell only the rest of the story.

The 24 Chinese sailors on board a Panama-flagged bulk cargo ship, hijacked by pirates yesterday at the Arabian Sea, have been rescued, as Turkey and U.S. navy ships in the nearby rushed to them and chased away the pirates, Xinhua News Agency reported.

About seven suspected Somali pirates have left the ship, "Full City", and the 24 Chinese workers are found safe, locking themselves in the safety vessel of the ship, the report said. Guarded by U.S. Navy ships, a group of Turkey Navy commandos boarded the pirated ship.

The pirates attacked "Full City" at midday on Thursday local time, and seized it about 450 nautical miles off the coast of Mumbai in India.

The China Sea Rescue Center earlier reported two Chinese navy ships patrolling in the Gulf of Aden were alerted of the hijacking and rushed to its rescue yesterday. The center also sent liaisons to nearby patrolling ships for help.

Obviously China is intentionally not giving India any credit, at least on the domestic consumption side, but has no problem giving Turkey and the US credit. The Indian aircraft was probably the only way the pirates new that naval forces were bearing down on their location, and almost certainly was the single largest contributor to the pirates fleeing the ship before naval forces arrived.

Despite the absence of a public acknowledgment regarding Indian efforts, India learned of the hijacking somehow, so there is a lot of evidence of excellent communication and coordination at the government level on pirate activities. There was coordination between China, India, Turkey, and the United States against a pirated vessel 450 nautical miles off the coast of Mumbai in India. These small victories are adding up.

It doesn't matter how the various national media outlets tell the story, the job by the crew to protect themselves in the citadel and the cooperation by so many different nations in response to the hijacking of a ship is the story I see.

The pirates got away though, as is not uncommon, meaning another attack is almost certain to take place in the very near future unless someone stops them. Based on recent anti-piracy activities in the area and ongoing disputes between India and Somalia, I have a feeling India is not done yet with this group of pirates.