On 29 January 2014, international collaboration in the fight against piracy resulted in the transfer of five men by the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta flagship, FS Siroco, to the Republic of Seychelles, with the aim of prosecuting them for acts of piracy.
On Saturday 18 January, FS Siroco, in cooperation with Japanese assets in support of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF/CTF 151), freed the crew of an Indian Dhow that was believed to have been used by the five suspected pirates as a mother-ship in the attack on an oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden a day earlier (read full article ).
The EU Naval Force crew was able to gather a significant amount of evidence, as it is the EU’s ambition to support a legal finish where possible. On that basis, the Republic of the Seychelles has accepted the transfer of the suspected pirates with the intention to prosecute them.
The EU, including through EU NAVFOR, has developed a successful partnership with the Republic of Seychelles in the fight against piracy. The transfer agreement signed in December 2009 has up to date allowed for 47 (including today’s five) suspected pirates to be transferred. With 33 pirates now prosecuted, the Seychelles play a leading role in achieving a legal finish against pirates in the region.
Read more at: http://eunavfor.eu/suspect-pirates-apprehended-by-eu-naval-force-flagship-transferred-to-the-seychelles/