[TinyRedLeaf]

Indian navy sinks pirate mother ship

New Delhi (Nov 19, 2008): An Indian naval vessel, the INS Tabar, sank a suspected pirate "mother ship" in the Gulf of Aden and chased two attack boats into the night, officials said today.

Such mother ships — usually converted trawlers — are often used to take gangs of pirates and smaller attack boats into deep water, and can be used as mobile bases to attack merchant vessels.

"Pirates were seen roaming on the upper deck of this vessel with guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers," said a statement from the Indian navy. It said that the pirates fired on the INS Tabar after the officers asked to search it.

Indian forces fired back, sparking fires and a series of onboard blasts — possibly due to exploding ammunition — and destroying the ship. They chased one of two speedboats shadowing the larger ship. One was later found abandoned. The other escaped, according to the statement.

Separate bands of pirates also seized a Thai ship with 16 crew members and an Iranian cargo vessel with a crew of 25 in the Gulf of Aden, where Somalia-based pirates appear to be attacking ships at will, said Mr Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre in Malaysia.

"It's getting out of control," Mr Choong said.

The clash happened as pirates claimed to begin negotiations over a ransom for a Saudi supertanker that was seized on Sunday (Nov 16), outside of sea lanes patrolled by warships from several navies. The Sirius Star — as large as an aircraft carrier and capable of carrying a quarter of Saudi Arabia's daily oil output — is the biggest ship ever to be hijacked by pirates.

- TIMES ONLINE, BBC NEWS, AP

Whatever happened to the good ol' days of "yo, ho, ho and a bottle of rum"?