Beluga Nomination Incident
| MV Beluga Nomination incident | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Piracy in Somalia, Operation Ocean Shield, Operation Enduring Freedom - Horn of Africa | |||||||
 HDMS Esbern Snare |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Denmark Seychelles |
Somali Pirates | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1 flexible support ship 1 patrol boat |
2 freighters | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| unknown | 1–2 killed 1 freighter damaged |
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| Civilian Casualties: 4 killed | |||||||
The MV Beluga Nomination incident refers to the capture and attempted liberation of a German freighter from Somali Pirates by the Seychelles Coast Guard and Royal Danish Navy in January 2011. A few days after the taking of the MV Beluga Nomination, a Seychelles patrol boat and a Danish flexible support ship, the HDMS Esbern Snare, encountered the pirates and engaged in a failed rescue operation.
The MV Beluga Nomination is a multipurpose heavy lift project carrier of Beluga Shipping and was on a commercial voyage from Malta to the South Korean port of Masan, stopping at the Point Victoria in the Seychelles during the passage through the Indian Ocean. Her crew consisted of twelve men with a Polish captain, two Ukrainian, two Russian and seven Filipino sailors. The incident began on 22 January when pirates in a single skiff, from the mother ship MV York, attacked the Nomination while she was sailing approximately 435miles north of the Seychelles Islands. Automatic weapons fire erupted when the Somalis boarded the freighter, at which time the crew of twelve men sent out a distress call and entered the ship's citadel. The pirates were well armed and well prepared. A blow torch was brought along and for several hours the Somalis welded their way into the citadel while sailing for the African mainland. The distress call was picked up by allied naval forces operating in the area on 22 January and the closest warship to the scene of the Nomination's seizure was a Seychellois patrol boat, and the Danish command and support ship HDMS Esbern Snare.
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