Interesting theory popped up. Three Somali pirates may have been left aboard OS 35 while the rest of the group fled as Chinese VBSS closed in. If they were captured, why didn't China say anything? And if not captured, where the hell are these three pirates?
The original source of it seems to be from VOA... and while I'm not going to immediately discount everything they write, in my experience VOA (along with RFA and RFE/L) to tends to allow greater degrees of speculation than other, private US news media.
So while it's possible that this Aw Koombe may have been captured, it may be possible that it's just a mix up of reporting + speculation. If he was actually captured then it's a bit curious as to why it may not have been yet stated by the Navy, though it could just be this is the first time the Chinese Navy has apprehended someone in a manner like this and are playing it safe in terms of media? I don't know.
Wow, looks like it's real.
They were sure quiet about it, and seems like they were kept at sea for quite a few weeks in that case.
Chinese navy hands over three pirates to Somali authorities
By | BOSASSO, SOMALIA
A Chinese navy ship handed over three suspected pirates to Somali authorities on Friday, police said, underscoring the determination of international naval forces to stamp out a resurgence of piracy this year.
The pirates were involved in the attempted hijacking in April of the OS35, a Tuvalu-flagged cargo ship that was rescued by the Chinese navy after the crew sent a distress call.
"A Chinese navy ship handed over three pirates to Puntland today," said Ahmed Saiid, the deputy director of maritime police forces in the semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland.
The pirates handed to the Puntland authorities included a local pirate leader known as Aw Kombe, he said.
In their heyday in 2011, Somali pirates launched 237 attacks off the coast of Somalia and held hundreds of hostages, the International Maritime Bureau said.
That year, the Ocean's Beyond Piracy aid group estimated the global cost of piracy at about $7 billion. The shipping industry bore roughly 80 percent of those costs, the group said.
Attacks fell sharply after ship owners tightened security and avoided the Somali coast. But they have risen again this year and the U.S. navy said it believes the spike is partly driven by severe drought in the Horn of Africa nation.
(writing by Clement Uwiringiyaimana; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
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