Russian forces overpower pirates

ABOARD THE CARLSKRONA – A Russian warship hunted down an oil tanker hijacked by Somali pirates and special forces rappelled on board Thursday, surprising the outlaws, who surrendered after a 22-minute gunbattle. Twenty-three Russian sailors were freed.

The dramatic Indian Ocean rescue came a day after pirates seized the tanker, which was heading toward China carrying $50 million worth of crude. One pirate was killed and 10 others were arrested, officials said.

The Russian destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov had rushed to the scene after Wednesday’s seizure of the Liberian-flagged tanker, Moscow University.

After spotting the hijacked vessel early Thursday, the warship fired warning shots from its large-caliber machine gun, undeterred by the tanker’s flammable cargo of 86,000 tons of crude.

Special forces troops then rappelled down to the tanker from a helicopter, Rear Adm. Jan Thornqvist, the EU Naval Force commander, told an Associated Press reporter aboard the Swedish warship Carlskrona, which was patrolling 500 miles west of the rescue site.

The startled pirates opened fire and a gunbattle ensued that killed one pirate and wounded three before the hijackers surrendered, the Russian state news channel Rossiya-24 said.

The operation’s success was due to the surprise factor, said a Russian military officer aboard the warship. “The pirates were taken by surprise. They did not expect such resolute measures from us,” Capt. Ildar Akhmerov told RUA Novosti news agency.

The decision to free the ship was made knowing “that the crew was under safe cover inaccessible to the pirates” and that sailors’ lives were not in danger, said the ship’s owner, Novoship.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev congratulated the special forces for a job done “correctly, professionally, quickly.” .

The pirates were to be taken to Moscow to face criminal charges.