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Pirates chase, shoot at Norfolk-based ship
11:26 PM EDT on Thursday, May 7, 2009
Reported by Brian Farrell
SUFFOLK – When Dee White answered her telephone Thursday morning, the conversation with her husband started off pretty routine. About five minutes into it, as she puts it, “…he did drop the bomb.”
Captain Jim White is a merchant mariner who leads the crew of USNS Lewis and Clark. The Norfolk-based dry cargo/ammunition ship was off the coast of Somalia when two boats filled with pirates started moving towards it, then went into pursuit mode.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen somebody, you know, kind of chase after a big ship,” White tells 13News from aboard ship. The captain says the boats tailed the Lewis and Clark for about 30 to 40 minutes after the ship reached its highest speed. The Somalis, at some point, started shooting.
"The three or four people that saw the splashes at the stern of the ship, they said, 'Hey, they're firing at us!’” White explains, “It was a short burst, possibly from an AK-47."
Read the rest of the article, it gets more interesting.
Pirates chase, shoot at Norfolk-based ship
11:26 PM EDT on Thursday, May 7, 2009
Reported by Brian Farrell
SUFFOLK – When Dee White answered her telephone Thursday morning, the conversation with her husband started off pretty routine. About five minutes into it, as she puts it, “…he did drop the bomb.”
Captain Jim White is a merchant mariner who leads the crew of USNS Lewis and Clark. The Norfolk-based dry cargo/ammunition ship was off the coast of Somalia when two boats filled with pirates started moving towards it, then went into pursuit mode.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen somebody, you know, kind of chase after a big ship,” White tells 13News from aboard ship. The captain says the boats tailed the Lewis and Clark for about 30 to 40 minutes after the ship reached its highest speed. The Somalis, at some point, started shooting.
"The three or four people that saw the splashes at the stern of the ship, they said, 'Hey, they're firing at us!’” White explains, “It was a short burst, possibly from an AK-47."
Read the rest of the article, it gets more interesting.
