The Liberian-flagged tanker NS Commander, a ship partly owned by Russia's Novoship, is "attacked by three pirate boats on Monday about 120 miles east of the Yemeni island of Socotra" on its way to Singapore. The crew repel the attackers, who fired small arms at the commercial vessel, with water cannon.At the time of the attack, the tanker with 23 Russian crewmembers on board was about 130 miles from the Russian Admiral Panteleyev missile destroyer, which arrived in the Gulf of Eden on Monday to take part in patrolling pirate-infested waters off the Somali coast.(Novosti, 04/28/09)
The tanker carries 23 crew.
Three small skiffs carrying Somali pirates, armed with rifles and bomb-launchers, closed in on the tanker from behind. However the tanker’s crew repelled them with water cannons and fire-hoses causing the pirates to fall from their boats into the water.(Moscow News, 04/28/09)
The other owner of the ship is the Novorossiysk Shipping Company. The Commander is carrying "83,000 tons of mazut fuel oil."
The captain quickly notified the coalition of naval forces in the region of the attack. Direct communication was opened with Russian naval ship the Admiral Panteyev, which was 120 miles from the site of the incident.(Moscow Times, 04/28/09)
