US Navy Thwarts Pirate Attack on Tanzanian Ship

A US warship stepped in to defend a Tanzanian ship that was under attack from pirates, scaring off and capturing the scallywags. When the USS Farragut got a distress call from the Tanzanians saying a gang on a skiff was attacking them, a Seahawk helicopter was dispatched to the scene. The pirates fled at the sight of the copter, but it stopped their skiff by firing across its bow.

A boarding team from the Farragut then came aboard the skiff and apprehended eight pirates. The attack was reported today in a statement from the US Embassy in Tanzania. The statement didn’t say where or when the attack took place, but the Farragut is part of the international task force patrolling the Gulf of Aden off the east coast of Somalia, Reuters reports. (More pirates stories.)