India captures pirate mother ship with crew of 61

Guardian:

Five dozen pirates living on a hijacked ship serving as a roving pirate base jumped into the Arabian Sea after the Indian navy fired on the vessel, naval authorities said.

The navy captured 61 pirates fleeing the battle and the ensuing fire that broke out aboard the hijacked vessel. A pirate in Somalia threatened Indian sailors and the government with attacks in retaliation for the arrests.

The Indian navy said a patrol aircraft spotted the pirate mothership on Friday while responding to another vessel reporting an attack. The pirates aborted the hijack attempt and tried to escape on the mothership.

When the Indian navy closed in on Sunday night, the pirates fired on them. The hijacked vessel caught fire when Indian vessels returned fire, the navy said.

The pirates had hijacked the Mozambique-flagged Vega 5 in December and had used it as a mothership. Indian sailors rescued 13 crew members from the Vega 5 about 700 miles off Kochi in southern India, the statement said.

The pirates were carrying about 80 to 90 small arms or rifles and a few heavier weapons, it said. The statement did not describe any casualties among the navy, the fishermen or the pirates. The pirates were being taken to Mumbai to be prosecuted for attacking the Indian ships.

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More of the pirates are being captured and prosecuted but it does not seem to be acting as a determent. To do that the pirates bases must be attacked and destroyed along with the capture of all their mother ships. So far the world has lacked the will to do what is needed. I fear the current middle ground will lead to escalating violence against the victims of the pirates.