The Action of 19 May 2009 was a confrontation between the HSwMS Malmö of the Swedish Navy and Somali Pirates in the Gulf of Aden after the pirates attempted to seize a Greek cargo vessel. The commander of the HSwMS Malmö was Magnus Jönsson.[1][2]
| Action of 19 May 2009 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Operation Atalanta | |||||||
 Image of the HSwMS Malmö (P12) of the Swedish Navy, taken 28 days after the incident. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Somali Pirates | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Magnus Jönsson | Unknown | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
HSwMS Malmö  M/V Antonis | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
1 ship At least 7 soldiers |
2 boats At least 7 pirates | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None |
7 Pirates captured 2 guns captured | ||||||
Background
editShortly before 1.30 AM on May 19, 2009, the HSwMS Malmo and HSwMS Stockholm[3] were ordered to respond to a mayday signal sent out by the Greek cargo ship M/V Antonis, the crew of the cargo ship had said that they came under rocket-propelled grenade fire from the pirates.[4][5]
Action
editWhen the HSwMS Malmö arrived, the crew saw the pirates attempting to board the cargo ship, upon which it fired warning shots with cannons, machine guns, and snipers in an attempt to thwart the attack.[4][6] In response, the pirates reportedly fired a grenade launcher, but spokesman Anders Grenstad claimed nobody was injured.[7]
When the pirates attempted to escape, the HSwMS Malmö began chasing them, and focusing on one of their boats. After about 20 minutes the pirates gave up and a Swedish crew of around 7 soldiers[8] was sent to arrest them.[6][4][1]
The 7 pirates on board one of the fishing boats were arrested and taken onboard the HSwMS Malmö while security forces boarded the fishing boat and documented the items, finding 2 guns, a GPS navigator, and a grappling hook.[4][7][1]
Aftermath
editThe pirates were later taken to Djibouti where an agreement between the EU and Kenya was signed where pirates arrested by EU forces are taken to Kenya to face trial.[4][5][9] After the Swedes interrupted the attempted hijacking, there were fewer pirate attacks in the area, making Magnus Jönsson to say that he believed the Swedish intervention had some impact.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b c Forces, Swedish Armed. "Pirate attack thwarted". Försvarsmakten. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
- ^ a b Holmström, Mikael (2009-06-06). "Svenska fartyg tvingas behålla fångna pirater ombord". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). ISSN 1101-2412. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
- ^ https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLQ614203/
- ^ a b c d e https://www.thelocal.se/20090526/19672
- ^ a b "Swedes Hand over Somali Pirates". Sveriges Radio. 2009-06-08. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
- ^ a b Nordal, Erlingur (2009-06-04). "Somali pirates arrested by Swedish navy forces | IceNews - Daily News". Retrieved 2024-04-22.
- ^ a b "Swedish navy stops ship attack in Gulf of Aden". San Diego Union-Tribune. Associated Press. 2009-05-26. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
- ^ "Svenska soldaternas egna bilder från gripandet i Adenviken". 26 May 2009.
- ^ Nyheter, S. V. T. (2009-05-26). "Svensk militär grep sju pirater". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-04-22.