Coastguards rescue six Seychellois fishermen from pirates |30 March 2010

The committee was told of the attack at 2am, 90 miles south-east of Mahe, and the Seychelles Coast Guard vessel Topaz was immediately sent in pursuit.

It is believed that nine Somali pirates hijacked the Galate, which had six men on board. The pirates used a dhow, which they had hijacked with its 21 Iranian crew last Friday, to capture the Seychellois boat.

The Seychellois men were then moved on to the dhow following the attack.

Together with the help of a European Union maritime patrol plane, the Topaz located the dhow, which was towing the Galate, and tried to engage with it. The pirates responded in a threatening manner and the Topaz fired several warning shots.
The dhow continued to travel towards Somalia, with the Topaz in pursuit.

President James Michel, the Commander-in-Chief, gave the orders for the Topaz to intercept the dhow and ensure it did not reach Somalia.

Yesterday afternoon the Topaz disabled the dhow by firing at the engine of the boat, which resulted in a fire onboard. The pirates, the Iranian crew and the Seychellois then jumped into the sea.

The Topaz picked up all the six Seychellois – Joel Julienne, Francis Leon, Emmanuel Victorin, Richard Bossy, Roland Lablache and Antoine Basset – from the sea at 4.30pm and they are all now safe.

 
The Seychelles Coast Guard also rescued all the Iranian crew members, one of whom had a gunshot wound to the upper arm. All the Somali pirates were also retrieved from the sea.

The President said he is thankful that all the Seychellois have been successfully rescued and will soon be returned to their families.

“We all remember the pain and uncertainty when our compatriots on board the Serenity, Indian Ocean Explorer and Alakrana were being held hostage by pirates last year,” said Mr Michel.

“We were determined that such incidents did not repeat themselves, and it was important that the vessel not be allowed to reach Somalia.”

The President also praised the armed forces for the professionalism of their action and their courage in the face of threats. The Topaz had been fired on by rocket-propelled grenades and had successfully evaded them.

“Our men on board the Topaz have shown that they are capable of dealing with piracy in the most difficult of circumstances,” he said.

“They showed very determined, professional and brave action. The fact that they have managed to liberate our compatriots is testimony to the hard work they have put in over the last year to ensure that Seychelles is ready to deal with piracy.
 
Our armed forces have risen to the challenge and we are all proud of them.”

The chairman of the High-Level Committee on Piracy, Minister Joel Morgan, has also praised the performance of the operation, which involved the cooperation of many partners. He also pointed out that the Topaz’s decisive action has further justified the passing of the amendment to the law on piracy last week.

“This operation has dealt a serious blow to the way in which pirates operate by attacking unarmed vessels,” said Mr Morgan.

“We have shown we will not let them get away with it. Our newly amended law also clearly lays down the way in which we can engage them in combat.

“In this operation the Topaz had to pursue them outside our EEZ, and all our military officers were reassured in that their actions were situated within a clear legal context.”

Mr Morgan also thanked the EU-Navfor force for its help and cooperation during the mission.
The Topaz is expected to arrive in Port Victoria this afternoon.