AO Weekly News Round Up 1-4-9
|
-
The A-O Weekly News Round Up
-
For January 4, 2009
-
"Abbreviated Edition"
-
Editor's Note: This is an abbreviated edition of the weekly news round up because the first part of the week's news posted on New Year's Eve.
-
-
Russia Halts Natural Gas
To Ukraine & Europe
+++++
Yellowstone Quake Swarms Continue
+++++
Pirates Foiled by Tanker
Somali Pirates attempted to hijack a Greek oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden near the Horn of Africal on Friday, January 2. The heavily armed pirates were thwarted in their take-over attempt by the Tanker's crewmen who used high-pressure water hoses to force the pirates to abandon their efforts.
The pirates armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades used three speedboats for two attempts to board the Greek-flagged tanker, Kriti Episkopi. The crewmen used high pressure fire hoses to fend off the boarding attempts until EU aircraft from a nearby naval flotilla came to the defense of the tanker.
The attack was the third Pirate hijacking attempt in the New Year. There were 111 pirate hijackings during all of 2008. More details, .
++++++
French Warship Catches Pirates
A French frigate saved the day for a Panamanian cargo ship that was being pursued by Somali pirates. The French warship was patrolling the waters off the coast of Somalia where the Somali pirates ply their trade searching for helpless merchant ships. The S. Venus, a Panamanian-flagged cargo vessel radioed a distress call as pirates trailed behind the ship preparing for an attack.
Answering the distress call, the French frigate arrived on the scene chasing away the pirates, but the pirates returned a few hours later after the frigate left the cargo ship. Again the French warship responded and this time captured the pirate ship. The seizure occured about 50 miles from the coast of Yemen.
The European Union's naval flotilla arrived in pirate waters just before the holidays and is tasked with putting a halt to the skyrocketing problem of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia. For more details, LINK HERE.
+++++++
-
-
-
-
-