Pirates surrender to U.S. Navy after failed hijacking attempt
The guided-missile destroyers USS Mason and USS Laboon steam in formation with the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Italian navy frigate ITS Virginio Fasan in the Atlantic Ocean, Tuesday, July 4, 2023. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Keith Nowak)
By Micaela Burrow
Daily Caller News Foundation
A U.S. Navy warship chased down unidentified pirates attempting to hijack a commercial vessel in waters south of Yemen on Sunday, forcing the would-be hijackers to surrender, the U.S. military said.
The guided-missile destroyer U.S.S. Mason was operating with the U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group in the Arabian Gulf to serve U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) efforts to deter further attacks on U.S. troops in the Middle East when it received a distress call from a merchant ship, CENTCOM said. The Mason and other allied ships and aircraft, part of a U.S.-led counter-piracy task force based off the Somalian coast, raced toward the M/V Central Park and, upon arrival, demanded the hijackers they found on board the vessel to leave.
Five armed individuals attempted to flee the Central Park using a small boat apparently belonging to them, CENTCOM said.
“The Mason pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender,” the CENTCOM statement read.
The M/V Central Park (Courtesy Zodiac Maritime)
It was not clear if the hijackers belonged to the Iran-backed Houthi militant group that controls parts of Yemen. However, the Houthi rebels hijacked another Israel-linked commercial ship, the Galaxy Leader, on Nov. 19.
They have also launched missiles and one-way attack drones at Israel.
Later on Monday, at 1:41 a.m. local time, the Mason and Central Park came under apparent attack, likely by the Houthis, as the Mason was concluding its rescue of the targeted shipping vessel, CENTCOM said. Two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas headed toward the general location of the vessels in the Gulf of Aden but splashed harmlessly into waters 10 nautical miles from the two ships.
No damage or injuries to personnel were reported during the possible attack, CENTCOM said. The Liberian-flagged Central Park had a crew of 22 on board and was transporting phosphoric acid, according to The Washington Post.
“Maritime domain security is essential to regional stability,” Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, CENTCOM commander, said in the statement. “We will continue to work with allies and partners to ensure the safety and security of international shipping lanes.”
Officials are investigating whether Iran was involved in the hijacking attempt and whether it has any association with the recent escalation in regional tensions since the Israel war on Hamas began on Oct. 7, The New York Times reported.
The Central Park came under attack once before in recent days, according to the NYT. Zodiac Maritime, the company that manages the ship, belongs to Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group.
IMPORTANT NOTE TO WND READERS: Shortly after Hamas terrorists fired over 5,000 rockets from Gaza into Israel on Oct. 7 and then proceeded to attack the Jewish state by land, sea and air – torturing, burning, beheading and murdering well over a thousand people, including women, children and infants, and wounding and abducting hundreds more – world reaction was, in its own way, almost equally shocking.
For after the biggest one-day mass slaughter of Jews since the Nazi Holocaust, what followed was an outpouring of celebratory demonstrations, unbridled Jew-hatred, deliriously gleeful support for Hamas and bitter condemnation of the nation of Israel. Not just in the Arab-Muslim world, but throughout the Western world as well, including all across America.
Why? What is behind the explosion of anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, pro-terror sentiment in the United States, where Israel has long been one of America's closest friends and allies? Why are hordes of young "woke" LGBT demonstrators marching in support of Hamas – when Hamas wouldn't think twice about binding and blindfolding them and throwing them off the roof of a tall building – as they routinely do in the Muslim world?
It turns out there's one area of agreement that is so powerful, deep-seated and all-consuming that the vast differences between the deranged left and the murderous jihadists melt away into Kumbaya harmony.
All of this and much more is completely exposed in November's issue of WND's critically acclaimed monthly Whistleblower magazine, titled ISRAEL VS. GLOBAL JIHAD: How Jew-hatred, radical Islam and Leftism are pushing us toward World War III. Beyond a deeply insightful dive into why leftists are surging toward radical Islam – which hates and dreams of raping and butchering them – this Whistleblower issue includes fantastic articles by everyone from top Israeli analyst (and former Israel Defense Forces officer) Caroline Glick to Harvest Christian Fellowship's Pastor Greg Laurie on the current war in Israel and biblical prophecies regarding the End Times … which he says are now upon us.
WHISTLEBLOWER is available in both the popular print edition and a state-of-the-art digital version, either single issues or discounted annual subscriptions.
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