13 May 2009

Incident: Vessel fired upon

An unidentified vessel was fired upon with rocket propelled grenades while sailing south of Mukalla, Yemen in the Gulf of Aden. Two RPGs were fired by men in two skiffs. Coalition forces arrived on the scene to assist the victim. (ONI Worldwide Threat to Shipping, 5/13/09)

This may be the same attack as that carried out against a bulk carrier (not further identified) in the Gulf of Aden the same day.
Two boats with five pirates in each boat chased and fired upon a bulk carrier with automatic rifles and RPG. An orange and white coloured mother vessel was noticed around 3 nm astern of the vessel. Master carried out evasive manoeuvres, increased speed and contacted coalition warship. A helicopter arrived at the location and the pirates aborted the attempt.
(ICC/IMB Website)