On 18 June, an Armed Forces of Malta security team captured Somali pirates in an operation involving Dutch navy vessel HNLMS Johan de Witt and a skiff with six suspected pirates on board in the Gulf of Aden.

The AFM quoted a statement by the Dutch Navy saying the skiff was detected as it was moving towards HNLMS Johan de Witt at great speed by a German Orion patrol maritime aircraft which, as the Johan de Witt, is part of the EU’s counter-piracy mission EU NAVFOR Atalanta. As the alarm was sounded on board the ship, and an AFM security team rapidly prepared itself for action.

As soon as those aboard the skiff realised that they were dealing with a military vessel, they changed course in the direction of the coast. The Dutch Warship Johan de Witt then fired a number of warning shots, after which the boat stopped and the suspected pirates surrendered. The AFM security team quickly secured the skiff and transferred those on board onto the navy ship.

Malta has stationed 12 military personnel on board the Dutch navy ship. The Maltese soldiers form what is called a ‘Vessel Protection Detachment’. The team’s primary task is providing protection to ships carrying emergency relief goods or to other vulnerable ships that are escorted by HNLMS Johan de Witt.

“It all went really fast”, says Dutch Commander Ton Tas, First Officer of HNLMS Johan de Witt. “We could see clearly from the ship that they were dumping items into the sea. The patrol aircraft even took photographs of that.” After the suspected pirates were registered, medically examined and interviewed, they were taken ashore and the Dutch navy ship continued on its patrol.

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