Russian ship Admiral Panteleyev detains Somali pirates' boat
Crew of the Russian antisubmarine ship Admiral Panteleyev detained and examined a boat with Somali pirates aboard Tuesday night, Itar-Tass reports.
The detention took place at 18:10 Moscow Daylight Saving Time /14:10 GMT/ some 15 miles east off Somalia’s coast in the zone of intensive commercial navigation.
“During the inspection, the crew found seven Kalashnikov guns, handguns of various brands, aluminum ladders for ascending aboard, navigation equipment, including the satellite one, reserve tanks with fuel, and a big amount of empty cartridge cases,” a source at the Russian Defense Ministry said.
“These finds give grounds to suppose that precisely this group of pirates made two abortive attempts to seize the TF Commander tanker with the Russian crew that was passing the area with a consignment of crude oil to Singapore Tuesday,” he said.
The ship waved the Liberian flag.
“The total number of detained people is 29,” the spokesman said. “Investigative actions decreed for such situations have begun.”