Malaysian navy frees crew in second commando raid on pirates

The seized pirates could be tried in Malaysia

By Christopher Szabo.

Kuala Lumpur - Reports of a second swift and successful raid against Somali pirates say the Malaysian Navy has liberated 23 crew, wounded three pirates and captured a further 20 in the Gulf of Aden.

Members of the Royal Malaysian Navy’s special forces unit foiled an attempt to hijack the Malaysian-owned tanker, MT Bunga Laurel, about 300 nautical miles (555 kilometres) east of Oman Thursday, according to Reuters, with reports coming in just hours ago. The rescue took place just hours before the South Korean operation.

Similarly to the Korean government, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak said his government was studying international law on how to deal with the pirates:

"We will determine what we should do, whether we are going to bring them here to be tried or take any other appropriate action.”

The rescue, which occurred a few hours before the South Korean navy operation, began when a Malaysian Navy auxiliary ship, the Bunga Mas, received an emergency signal from the Bunga Laurel, which was 15 nautical miles (26 kilometres) away. Navy chief Admiral Abdul Aziz Jaafar said:

"At exactly 11.40 p.m., Bunga Mas 5 called MISC's Emergency Reporting Centre to report that Bunga Laurel had been attacked and pirates were attempting to board the ship by using skiffs.”

Malaysia’s The Star also quoted the prime minister, who said:

“I am proud of the success. They had acted efficiently and demonstrated their bravery in rescuing the tanker.”

The Star said the rescue was carried out by the Malaysian navy’s PASKAL special operations unit, which is similar to the US Navy SEAL teams. The PASKAL team boarded the ship, followed by an exchange of fire between the commandos and the pirates, in which three of the latter were wounded. The pirates then apparently surrendered.

The BBC reported an attack helicopter was also involved in the rescue, but did not specify the type or the action it carried out.

The two rescues within hours of each other are heartening news, but the BBC report points out that pirate attacks went up 10 percent from 2009 to 2010, with pirates taking an all-time high of 1,181 hostages in 445 attacks, hijacking 53 ships and killing eight sailors.

All this at least 30 major naval ships and the navies and air forces of the EU and NATO, as well as Australia, New Zealand, Russia, India and China taking part in counter-piracy patrols.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/302818#ixzz1ByXY6NC5

Rampas semula kapal MT Bunga Laurel

Oleh WAN NOOR HAYATI WAN ALIAS
pengarang@utusan.com.my

KOMANDO TLDM (Paskal) mengawasi tujuh lanun Somalia yang ditahan selepas menyelamatkan kapal dagang MT Bunga Laurel daripada tawanan kumpulan lanun itu di perairan Teluk Aden, timur Oman, kelmarin.

KUALA LUMPUR 21 Jan. – Kecekapan Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM) sekali lagi terbukti apabila berjaya menyelamatkan sebuah kapal dagang MT Bunga Laurel selepas dua jam ditawan lanun, kira-kira 300 batu nautika (555 kilometer) di timur Oman, semalam.
Misi menyelamat itu dilakukan bersama kapal auxiliary (bantuan dan tugas-tugas khas) Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia (TLDM), Bunga Mas 5 yang terlibat dalam Operasi Fajar bagi memberi perlindungan kepada kapal MT Bunga Laurel itu ketika melalui perairan Teluk Aden.
Dalam kejadian kira-kira pukul 11.40 malam tadi, kapal dagang yang disewa MISC Berhad itu telah ditawan sekumpulan tujuh lanun warga Somalia yang bersenjatakan senapang jenis AK-47 dan pistol.
Kumpulan lanun itu menaiki sampan yang diturunkan dari sebuah kapal induk membawa seramai 18 lanun untuk menyerang kapal dagang berkenaan yang membawa muatan minyak pelincir dan bahan kimia jenis ‘ethylene dichloride’ dari Asia Barat ke Singapura.


Seramai 23 krew kapal MT Bunga Laurel berjaya diselamatkan tanpa sebarang kecederaan dalam misi menyelamat yang dilancarkan Pasukan Perlindungan Khas ATM itu.
Dalam kejadian itu juga, kesemua tujuh lanun berkenaan berjaya ditahan manakala tiga daripadanya cedera ketika berbalas tembakan dengan tentera ATM.
Menurut kenyataan yang dikeluarkan Kementerian Pertahanan di sini hari ini, rampasan itu berlaku selepas dua jam kapal MT Bunga Laurel dipisahkan di perairan selamat setelah diiringi Bunga Mas 5.
“Krew kapal MT Bunga Laurel sempat mengaktifkan sistem penggera keselamatan kapal sebelum bersembunyi di bilik keselamatan khas yang terletak berhampiran bilik jentera kapal.
“Bertindak daripada panggilan kecemasan itu, kapal Bunga Mas 5 yang berada 14 batu nautika (25.9 kilometer) dari MT Bunga Laurel bergegas ke lokasi kejadian untuk membantu,” katanya.
Dalam operasi tersebut, sebuah helikopter jenis Fennec TLDM yang dilancarkan kapal bantuan Bunga Mas 5 melepaskan tembakan dari udara.
Menurut kenyataan itu lagi, tembakan tepat ke arah kapal induk lanun itu berjaya menghalangnya daripada memberi bantuan kepada kumpulan lanun yang berada atas kapal MT Bunga Laurel.
“Pasukan Perlindungan Khas ATM kemudian melancarkan operasi menggempur lanun itu pada pukul 1.20 pagi dan selepas berbalas tembakan, kesemua lanun itu berjaya ditahan manakala anak kapal itu diselamatkan,” jelas kenyataan itu.


Operasi Fajar yang bermula Julai tahun lalu berikutan insiden rampasan dua kapal tangki MISC 2008, memperlihatkan sokongan kuat kerajaan, ATM dan TLDM dalam menjaga kepentingan negara.
Kapal bantuan Bunga Mas 5 yang diubah suai daripada sebuah kapal kontena merupakan yang pertama seumpamanya di Malaysia.
Ia dilengkapi hangar menempatkan pesawat Super Lynx dan bot tempur milik TLDM untuk melaksanakan operasi defensif mahupun menyerang jika diperlukan.


Dalam pada itu, kenyataan Kementerian Pertahanan memaklumkan, sebanyak 32 buah kapal dagang masih ditawan lanun di perairan Teluk Aden walaupun pelbagai usaha di peringkat antarabangsa dilakukan untuk menangani kegiatan lanun di perairan Teluk Aden itu.
Sementara itu, jurucakap TLDM ketika dihubungi memberitahu, semua 32 kapal yang ditawan lanun itu tidak melibatkan kapal dagang dari Malaysia.
Jurucakap itu berkata, kesemua 23 anak kapal Bunga Laurel termasuk beberapa warga Filipina yang diselamatkan tidak mengalami kecederaan dan akan dibawa pulang tidak lama lagi.

Operation Dawn 8: Gulf of Aden

20 January 2011 – PASKAL maritime counter-terrorism assault teams successfully thwarted an attempted hijacking by Somali pirates on the Malaysian chemical tanker, a MT Bunga Laurel in the Gulf of Aden. The tanker, laden with lubricating oil and ethylene dichloride that was headed for Singapore in the nick of time was attacked by the mothership with 18 armed pirates about 300 nautical miles (555 km) east of Oman at 11.40pm. Under the cover of darkness, seven pirates armed with AK-47 assault rifles, light machine guns and pistols suddenly emerged from a skiff boat and began boarding the tanker, firing at random. The crew of MT Bunga Laurel activated the alarm and MISC Emergency Reporting Centre (ERC) received a security emergency indication at about 11.37pm. With the received an order to rescued, the PASKALs in two boats, led by Lieutenant Commander Mohd Maznan Bin Mohd Said and Lieutenant Noor Asri Bin Roslan, were deployed from Bunga Mas Lima auxiliary ship, located 14 nautical miles (25.9 km) away, at 1.20am with the help by Fennec attack helicopter piloted by Lieutenant Jason Solomon John provided reconnaissance and aerial cover.

The PASKALs boarded the tanker and subdued the pirates and starting the gunfight with the commandos while the helicopter launched a several shots to the pirate's mother ship at bay. At least three pirates wounded in the shootout with the commandos, four captured on board while 11 more on their mothership decided to surrender and seized the weapons and ammunitions. The 23 Bunga Laurel crews successfully rescued and no among casualties and losses to Filipinos and Malaysians including PASKALs in the battle. The swift action prevented the MISC from losing the cargo worth an estimated RM30mil, and saved 23 Filipino crew members on board the vessel. The Bunga Mas Lima had just completed the task of escorting the tanker and another MISC liquefied natural gas carrier, MT Seri Balhaf, bound for Fujairah, to a safe zone called Easton 4 in the gulf. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak praised the team for their efficiency in dealing with the crisis; the captured pirates were eventually brought to Malaysia to be tried.

Source : WIKI.

Posted by Navy Paskal Fan on Monday, 30 July 2012

Referencehttp://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?108150-Malaysian-Armed-Forces-Pictures/page172

Posted by Navy Paskal Fan on Sunday, 7 February 2010