| MVBeluga Nomination incident | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofPiracy in Somalia,Operation Ocean Shield,Operation Enduring Freedom - Horn of Africa | |||||||
 HDMSEsbern Snare | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Denmark Seychelles | Somali pirates | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1 support ship(frigate) 1 patrol boat | 2 freighters | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | 1–2 killed 1 freighter damaged | ||||||
| 4 civilians killed | |||||||
TheMVBeluga Nomination incident[1] was the capture and attempted liberation of a Germanfreighter fromSomali pirates by theSeychelles Coast Guard andRoyal Danish Navy in the Indian Ocean in January 2011. A few days after the taking of MVBeluga Nomination, a Seychellespatrol boat and a Danishflexible support ship,HDMS Esbern Snare, encountered the pirates and engaged in a failedrescue operation.[2]
MVBeluga Nomination is a multipurpose heavy lift project carrier ofBeluga Shipping and was on a commercial voyage fromMalta to the South Korean port ofMasan, stopping at the Point Victoria in the Seychelles during the passage through the Indian Ocean. Her crew consisted of twelve men with a Polishcaptain, twoUkrainian, two Russian and sevenFilipino sailors. The incident began on 22 January when pirates in a singleskiff, from themother shipMV York, attackedBeluga Nomination while she was sailing approximately 435 miles (700 km) north of the Seychelles Islands. Automatic weapons fire erupted when the Somalis boarded the freighter, at which time the crew of twelve men sent out adistress call and entered the ship'scitadel. The pirates were well armed and well prepared. Ablowtorch was brought along and for several hours the Somalis welded their way into the citadel while sailing for the African mainland. The distress call was picked up by allied naval forcesoperating in the area on 22 January and the closest warship to the scene ofBeluga Nomination's seizure was a Seychellois patrol boat, and the Danish command and support shipHDMS Esbern Snare.[1][3]
Four days later on 26 January, the patrol boat was the first of the two allied ships to findBeluga Nomination, which was around 300 miles (480 km) off the Somali coast. A skirmish ensued asboarding parties attempted to retake the freighter while under cover from smallnaval guns and machine guns. The pirates usedsmall arms androcket-propelled grenades, and ultimately the Seychellois were repelled in their attempts at boarding though they killed one or two pirates. In the confusion, two ofBeluga Nomination's crew, a Ukrainian and a Filipino, lowered alifeboat and escaped by heading towards HDMSEsbern Snare. The two were picked up in healthy condition and they reported that the Somalis killed two of their shipmates and two others were missing and presumed dead after they jumped overboard. The German government issued a statement saying that the two hostages were either killed by the pirates or drowned at sea. When the Danish and the Seychellois realized they had failed the operation, they broke off the engagement and let the pirates go. No casualties were reported other than that of the pirates and the civilians.Beluga Nomination rendezvoused withYork on the following day. Because of mechanical problems caused by battle damage, both ships then sailed for Somalia. In April the ship was finally released after her owners paid a largeransom.[4][5]
