October 07, 2009

Le N'Yar Fin

HA-ha! Somali pirates get a dose of French taunting:

In the darkness of the Indian Ocean, a bulky French re-fuelling vessel looked like easy pickings for two boatloads of Somali pirates as they drew alongside early today.

The men started their usual pre-boarding drill, letting loose with Kalashnikov assault rifles, when they noticed the 40 millimetre cannon and missiles on the deck above them. Their fat merchant ship was in reality La Somme, the 18,000 tonne flagship of the French navy's operations against Somali pirates.

"They understood their mistake too late," said Admiral Christophe Prazuck a navy spokesman, who recounted the second misguided assault on a French warship by bungling pirates in six months.

The attackers turned tail and the Somme, a refuelling ship and command vessel, steamed after them at its maximum 20 knots.

She caught up with one of the two boats after an hour and the five were captured without a struggle. The other boat got away. The French seamen found no weapons, water or food as the pirates had thrown all of their boat's contents overboard, said Admiral Prazuck.

How does one say "Run awaaaaaaay!!!" in Maxaa Tiri?

Posted by Robert at October 7, 2009 04:13 PM | TrackBack
Comments

Shoulda used that 40mm Bofors to convert all those pirates to chum.

Posted by: Captain Ned at October 7, 2009 05:28 PM

Consult the book of armaments!

Posted by: ChrisN at October 7, 2009 08:24 PM

So they threw all the contents of their boat overboard. Fine....put them back in the boat and set them adrift. Suitable punishment me thinks.

Posted by: Tbird at October 7, 2009 09:24 PM

The pirates' first mistake was not launching a giant floating rabbit.

Posted by: Boy Named Sous at October 7, 2009 11:35 PM

Piracy is the scrouge of mankind. They declared their intent when they opened fire. The French response was restrained and admirable. The French could have just as easily blown the pirates out of the water.

Posted by: kmr at October 8, 2009 04:58 AM