by Bob Walsh
Yesterday
the Danish frigate Esbern Snare attempted to send a boarding part to a
suspected pirate ship off the coasts of Somalia. The pirates objected.
The Danes put a shot across their bow. The pirates opened fire on the
frigate. The frigate returned fire. It ended up with four dead
pirates, one wounded pirate in custody and eight unwounded pirates in
custody. The pirate ship sank.
The Danes have a significant maritime presence in the area and apparently think it is important to discourage piracy.
I
confess I am a tad surprised they bothered to take the pirates into
custody. I didn't think that pirates had any legal rights. I thought
they could be summarily executed. I guess we are more warm and fuzzy
than that these days.
Usually the crew has permission to pillage the pirate ship before sinking it.
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