Former Pier 7 Visitor Repels Somali Pirates

Last September, the Dutch frigate HNLMS Tromp (at the far end of the pier in the photo above), along with other NATO warships, docked at Pier 7 near the foot of Atlantic Avenue to allow the crew a few days’ liberty. Earlier today, as Tromp was sailing with other European Union warships off the coast of East Africa, Somali pirates, evidently mistaking her for an unarmed merchant vessel, attempted an attack:

AOL News (Jason Straziuso, AP): NAIROBI, Kenya (March 18) — These Somali pirates picked the wrong ship to hijack.

Troops aboard the Dutch warship HNLMS Tromp fired warning shots Wednesday off the coast of East Africa as suspected Somali pirates in two small skiffs raced toward their warship, the EU Naval Force said.

After the pirates realized they had made what spokesman Cmdr. John Harbour called a “rather silly mistake,” they turned around and fled. EU Naval Force personnel tracked down the two skiffs and a third suspected mothership, finding ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades on board, said Harbour, a spokesman for the EU Naval Force.

Update: Tromp managed to trump the pirates despite the likely presence of gays and lesbians among the crew.