October 28, 2007 incident off Somalia
| Action of 28 October 2007 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Operation Enduring Freedom - Horn of Africa | |||||||
 Skiff burning after taking 25 mm rounds |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States
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Somali Pirates | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 2 destroyers | 1 tanker 2 skiffs |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | 2 skiffs sunk | ||||||
The Action of 28 October 2007 was part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the military operation defined by the United States for combating terrorism in the Horn of Africa. The incident occurred when United States Navy units acted to interdict piracy in the region.
After a decrease in piracy in the first half of 2007, Somali pirates rebounded and again started to increase their attacks on shipping off the coast of Somalia. On 28 October 2007, pirates hijacked the Japanese tanker the MV Golden Nori, eight nautical miles (15 km) off the Somali coast.
After receiving a distress call, the USS Porter, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, arrived at the scene and attacked and sank two skiffs being towed by the tanker. The tanker's owner and operator, Dorval Kaiun Shipping, reported that its cargo consisted of four kinds of chemicals, including highly flammable benzene. The United States Fifth Fleet spokesperson, Lydia Roberts, stated, "we were aware of what was on the ship when we fired".
As the hijacked tanker continued underway, the Porter's sister ship USS Arleigh Burke received authorization from Somali authorities to pursue it. This is the first incident of Somali piracy where the United States Navy was given permission for pursuit within Somali territorial waters. The Navy continued to shadow the vessel through October and November, 2007. One of the crewmembers escaped from the ship and made it to safety, angering the pirates and complicating the situation even further. In November negotiations started for the tanker's release, but by 4 December the Golden Nori had been cornered in the port of Bosasso by two American and one German ship. Coalition forces called on the pirates to surrender, threatening them with military force if the standoff continued. The pirates in return demanded one million dollars in ransom or else they would kill all 21 members of the crew. On 12 December, the pirates left the vessel for the coast and set the crew free. It is still unclear if the pirates received their demanded ransom, or left simply because of the pressure applied by the Coalition.
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Wikipedia