:00:02. > :00:05.World. We join the crew of the British Royal Navy frigate to see
:00:05. > :00:15.whether the patrolling of the Indian Ocean is making it the world
:00:15. > :00:18.
:00:18. > :00:28.any safer from Somali pirates. Western navies are hunting Somali
:00:28. > :00:30.
:00:30. > :00:40.pirates in the Indian Ocean. Desperate men from a failed state
:00:40. > :00:45.
:00:45. > :00:50.are trying to hold the world's shipping trade to ransom. Criminal
:00:50. > :01:00.gangs who are proving difficult to deter. Can this show of force rid
:01:00. > :01:27.
:01:27. > :01:35.the high seas of these ruthless bandits? HMS Cornwall is on a
:01:35. > :01:43.counter-piracy mission off the Somali coast. These seas are now
:01:43. > :01:53.the most dangerous in the world. Pirate gangs look for anything from
:01:53. > :01:59.
:01:59. > :02:01.small yachts to large cargo vessels to make their fortune. From the
:02:01. > :02:11.ship's helicopter a detachment of Royal Marines practice fast-rope
:02:11. > :02:17.
:02:17. > :02:27.descents. This year alone, there have been more than 140 pirate
:02:27. > :02:35.
:02:35. > :02:38.attacks and HMS Cornwall is preparing to confront them. The
:02:38. > :02:48.Marines go through room clearance drills with the Cornwall's crew
:02:48. > :02:50.
:02:50. > :02:59.playing the role of the pirates. Get down, put your weapon down!
:02:59. > :03:03.out! Kneel down. This, in theory, is how they deal with a hostage
:03:03. > :03:09.situation. In reality, such confrontations are rare, not least
:03:09. > :03:12.because of the increasingly ruthless nature of the pirates.
:03:12. > :03:15.Earlier this year, a pirate group killed their four American hostages
:03:15. > :03:25.when they were surrounded by US warships. Few navies would risk
:03:25. > :03:41.
:03:41. > :03:48.this kind of rescue. Each night, the ship's senior officers are
:03:48. > :03:53.briefed on the latest intelligence about pirate activity. They have
:03:53. > :03:56.been charting the course of attacks in the area. The captain thinks the
:03:56. > :04:03.presence of warships like the HMS Cornwall is making life more
:04:03. > :04:06.difficult for the pirates. We have forced them into a rethink. They
:04:06. > :04:08.have not had a successful pirate attack for over a month now, so I
:04:08. > :04:18.think they are struggling to understand what the multinational
:04:18. > :04:22.
:04:22. > :04:25.forces are doing. They are under considerable pressure in the camps.
:04:25. > :04:33.Particularly with respect to the Danish prisoners. That is probably
:04:33. > :04:36.leading them to pause. The next morning the HMS Cornwall's Lynx
:04:36. > :04:46.helicopter takes to the skies, combing the vast horizon for any
:04:46. > :04:47.
:04:47. > :04:51.suspect vessel. Up here, you get a real sense of the challenges they
:04:51. > :04:59.are facing. There are 20 or so warships patrolling a vast ocean of
:04:59. > :05:02.millions of square miles. To give you a sense of scale, that is like
:05:02. > :05:07.having half a dozen police cars patrolling the whole of Western
:05:07. > :05:10.Europe. The flight observation officer photographs each passing
:05:10. > :05:17.ship or boat. He is on the lookout for tell-tale signs like ladders or
:05:17. > :05:23.weapons. From a distance, this could be the kind of boat that
:05:23. > :05:33.pirates might use. But on closer inspection, it is only carrying
:05:33. > :05:35.
:05:35. > :05:43.livestock. Modern-day pirates do not fly any flags to signal their
:05:43. > :05:51.intent. It is a challenge. We have seen a lot of nothing on this
:05:51. > :05:53.deployment. There is a lot of blue sky and a lot of blue sea. The
:05:53. > :06:03.challenge there is to maintain focus, trying to keep everyone on
:06:03. > :06:04.
:06:04. > :06:14.point for weeks on end when they are just looking at the same thing.
:06:14. > :06:17.
:06:17. > :06:20.There are frustrations. But the Royal Navy play by the rules. I go
:06:20. > :06:28.through peaks and troughs, wondering whether we can succeed
:06:28. > :06:31.militarily. And the bigger question: can we actually defeat
:06:31. > :06:34.pirates at sea? Obviously Somalia being unstable means there will
:06:34. > :06:44.always be pirates coming out of Somalia until that issue is
:06:44. > :06:49.
:06:49. > :06:57.resolved. It is a challenge keeping the ship's 250 crew focussed. Weeks
:06:57. > :07:03.at sea often without a pirate in sight. Days filled with the
:07:03. > :07:13.routines of exercise, drills and eating. And a few reminders of home.
:07:13. > :07:13.
:07:13. > :07:15.Today, the galley is serving spotted dick. This is not
:07:15. > :07:21.necessarily what every sailor expected carrying out counter-
:07:21. > :07:30.piracy patrols. We would like to be making more of an obvious
:07:30. > :07:33.difference, catching more people. I understand that, politically, in
:07:34. > :07:37.the grand scheme of things we will make a difference. We are
:07:37. > :07:46.discouraging more than catching. That is a bit frustrating. We would
:07:46. > :07:56.like to see more catching of people. We are more of a deterrent. The
:07:56. > :08:02.
:08:02. > :08:06.Americans, Koreans and Pakistanis... They get the go-ahead to do it.
:08:06. > :08:12.we catch pirates we may have to release them, but while we have
:08:12. > :08:21.them... And so it is worthwhile? Is it making a difference? I think it
:08:21. > :08:27.has got to be. Otherwise why are we out here? More than 500 miles from
:08:27. > :08:37.land, an object has been spotted drifting in the ocean. Captain
:08:37. > :08:40.
:08:40. > :08:43.David Wilkinson has been called to the bridge. They identify a Somali
:08:43. > :08:53.skiff, the kind of speed boat that pirates use to board merchant
:08:53. > :09:04.
:09:04. > :09:13.vessels. Commander Wilkinson orders the Marines to investigate. They
:09:13. > :09:22.load their weapons and take to their boats. Cornwall's crew
:09:22. > :09:32.provides cover. It will soon be surrounded, with no chance of
:09:32. > :09:33.
:09:33. > :09:36.escape. Have they got that hands in the air? There is certainly a
:09:36. > :09:41.suspicion that this vessel is involved in piracy because it is
:09:41. > :09:49.500 miles away from land and in a known piracy area. That said, it
:09:49. > :09:52.will be much harder to prove that they are in fact pirates. This
:09:52. > :09:56.skiff is about 150 miles away from an attack that took place five days
:09:56. > :10:06.ago. During that attack some of the pirates got dislocated from the
:10:06. > :10:10.
:10:10. > :10:14.action. There is every chance that these guys have tried to make their
:10:14. > :10:18.way home independently and run out of fuel. The marines board the
:10:18. > :10:28.vessel and the two Somalis claim to be fishermen, but they have no
:10:28. > :10:30.
:10:30. > :10:32.fishing gear. Neither do they have any weapons. Eventually they are
:10:33. > :10:36.taken on to the Cornwall for questioning, but without any proof,
:10:36. > :10:42.this is now just a rescue operation. My gut feeling is that it looks
:10:42. > :10:45.like a pirate and smells like a pirate, so it probably is. We have
:10:45. > :10:52.two people in a pirate skiff from Somalia 600 miles away from home in
:10:52. > :10:59.a pirate operating area. I am burdened by the highest level of
:10:59. > :11:08.proof. What I can prove is that I have two chaps in a boat lost at
:11:08. > :11:11.sea. Therefore, my international obligations are clear. I had to
:11:11. > :11:16.invoke the Safety of Life at Sea regulations and that was very clear
:11:16. > :11:19.to me at the outset. The two men will be treated as guests until the
:11:19. > :11:29.Cornwall is closer to land. Even if they were involved in piracy, a
:11:29. > :11:33.
:11:33. > :11:36.brush with a warship may not prove to be much of a deterrent. For
:11:36. > :11:46.young men in Somalia, piracy has become a lucrative business with
:11:46. > :11:53.
:11:53. > :11:56.tens of millions of dollars for the release of cargo ships and crew.
:11:56. > :12:03.Its considerable arsenal is more than a match for the AK-47s of the
:12:03. > :12:13.pirate ship. The crew carries out firing drills throughout its
:12:13. > :12:25.
:12:26. > :12:32.deployment in the Indian Ocean. The ship's 4 1/2 inch gun can fire 25
:12:32. > :12:40.rounds per minute, up to 12 nautical miles. They are more
:12:40. > :12:49.likely to use the machine-guns around the deck. -- that surround
:12:49. > :12:55.the DEC. They use a buoy as a target. Simulation for firing on a
:12:55. > :13:03.skiff. But so far on this mission, none of these weapons have been
:13:03. > :13:09.fired in anger. It costs more than $50 million a year to keep a
:13:09. > :13:14.warship like this patrolling the Indian Ocean. There are several
:13:14. > :13:22.piracy attacks every day. Dozens of nations are prepared to make the
:13:22. > :13:25.investment. This is one of the world's main arteries for trade.
:13:25. > :13:28.The quantity of items coming to the UK from the Indian Ocean is
:13:28. > :13:31.absolutely huge, and the pirates have an immense effect on us at
:13:32. > :13:41.home by putting our sailors' lives at risk and our country's supply of
:13:42. > :13:48.
:13:48. > :13:58.The Cornwall has already had some success. Just before we boarded
:13:58. > :14:02.
:14:02. > :14:05.they caught this group of Somalis. A search revealed weapons and
:14:05. > :14:10.hostages. They admitted their intent to carry out piracy. But
:14:10. > :14:14.even that was not enough to send them to court. This is, in fact,
:14:14. > :14:18.the closest they got to jail: the Cornwall's cage used for temporary
:14:18. > :14:28.detention. Few countries are willing or able to prosecute
:14:28. > :14:28.
:14:28. > :14:33.pirates. Certain countries, they have the arrangements set up but I
:14:34. > :14:37.do not know the ins and outs of that. As long as I do my job
:14:37. > :14:41.professionally I am happy that if it goes to court they will be tried
:14:41. > :14:49.and they will be dealt with correctly. If they get released,
:14:49. > :14:59.they get released. That is not part of my authority. I cannot do
:14:59. > :14:59.
:14:59. > :15:03.anything about that. While Western nations try to work out what to do
:15:03. > :15:13.with these criminal gangs at sea, Somali pirates are still holding
:15:13. > :15:18.
:15:18. > :15:23.more than 500 people hostage along with dozens of merchant ships.
:15:23. > :15:33.There has just been a report of a pirate ship a few miles north of
:15:33. > :15:33.
:15:33. > :15:42.the Cornwall's position. Once again, the ship is launched to search the
:15:42. > :15:45.area. This time the captain thinks they may have their prey. We saw
:15:45. > :15:49.the vessel this morning, the aircraft has flown over the top,
:15:49. > :15:59.they are preparing for an attack, they have ladders. I am pretty
:15:59. > :15:59.
:15:59. > :16:05.certain this is our man. If they were going to see us, they would
:16:05. > :16:08.have done. By night, the Cornwall becomes a ghost ship, its deck
:16:08. > :16:14.lights are turned off and engines run low. It is closing in on the
:16:14. > :16:16.mothership to get a closer look. Here below in the nerve centre, the
:16:16. > :16:26.operations room, they use sophisticated surveillance to
:16:26. > :16:28.
:16:28. > :16:35.assess their target. They are within one mile of it. They need
:16:35. > :16:39.certain things to board, these ladders, their technical ability,...
:16:39. > :16:49.It could be as simple as getting him to throw his ladders over the
:16:49. > :16:51.
:16:51. > :16:58.side so he cannot board and then he has to go home. Then he has got to
:16:58. > :17:00.explain why he has come back empty- handed again. As a last resort, the
:17:00. > :17:04.Cornwall could use some of its considerable firepower to disable
:17:04. > :17:14.the other vessel. The captain requests permission from London to
:17:14. > :17:15.
:17:15. > :17:22.launch an attack the next morning. Daybreak and there is an added
:17:22. > :17:32.complication on the horizon. This is a big merchant ship that came
:17:32. > :17:34.
:17:34. > :17:39.within one mile of the suspect pirate vessel. She has given her
:17:39. > :17:42.position away. It is a cat-and- mouse game. We have manoeuvred at
:17:42. > :17:46.high speed to get between the pirates and the merchant ship to
:17:46. > :17:52.provide protection. There is a chance that the pirates will spot
:17:52. > :18:01.him early, and that is when we are going to pounce. After escorting
:18:01. > :18:04.the merchant ship to safety, the Cornwall returns for the kill.
:18:04. > :18:14.While down below, the Marines prepare for a possible boarding
:18:14. > :18:15.
:18:15. > :18:23.mission... On deck the crew don protective clothing. Weapons are
:18:23. > :18:27.loaded and aimed to take out the boats. From the bridge, the Somali
:18:27. > :18:36.interpreter broadcasts a final warning to surrender. There is no
:18:36. > :18:46.response. Just as they prepare to open fire there is movement on the
:18:46. > :18:51.
:18:51. > :18:58.deck. This is the captain. A hostage situation is in place.
:18:58. > :19:01.Weapons remain tight. helicopter which has been
:19:01. > :19:11.monitoring the situation from the air returns to confirm that the
:19:11. > :19:13.
:19:13. > :19:18.suspect pirate ship is armed. When we were on the scene there were a
:19:18. > :19:23.couple of guys milling around the upper deck. Everything cleared out
:19:23. > :19:26.for the ship to close in and as we closed in we were told stop, stop,
:19:27. > :19:36.stop, a hostage situation. We are off now to see what has actually
:19:37. > :19:38.
:19:38. > :19:41.happened. With hostages, the mission was to risky. The Cornwall
:19:41. > :19:51.passed on information to a nearby US warship which was able to target
:19:51. > :19:57.
:19:57. > :20:02.at night. 36 hours later, the Americans achieved the take down on
:20:02. > :20:11.that vessel. The skiffs have gone and the vessel is now making its
:20:11. > :20:14.way back to Somalia. They got nowhere for all that fuel. Back in
:20:14. > :20:22.sight of land, the Cornwall prepares to release the two Somali
:20:22. > :20:25.fishermen they picked up earlier. They are given enough petrol and
:20:25. > :20:34.water to make it back to shore. Commander Wilkinson offers them
:20:34. > :20:38.advice as their boat is lowered back into the water. I suggested
:20:38. > :20:46.they should go back to the pirate leaders and explain to them that,
:20:46. > :20:49.on this ship, they had been treated appropriately. Some of the
:20:49. > :20:52.instances we have seen of merchants being harmed physically and
:20:52. > :20:56.mentally is not the way to go forward. They need to take that
:20:56. > :21:04.message back to the pirates. The other message is that if you are
:21:04. > :21:08.found out here again, things won't be as easy the next time around.
:21:08. > :21:15.The two guests that have been on board the Cornwall for the last few
:21:15. > :21:22.days have been released near the northern coast of Somalia. Most of
:21:22. > :21:25.the crew believe they were involved in some way in piracy. Even if they
:21:25. > :21:31.were pirates, this is probably exactly what would happen to them,
:21:31. > :21:34.caught and then released. In fact, none of those picked up by the
:21:35. > :21:42.Cornwall, even the 17 who admitted they were pirates, have ended up in
:21:42. > :21:52.court, let alone jail. For the crew, it is hard to swallow. They spend
:21:52. > :21:58.
:21:58. > :22:02.all this money on it and... They can't prove anything. Even if they
:22:02. > :22:09.were pirates, this is exactly what you would have had to do. It is
:22:09. > :22:17.frustrating. A little bit, yes. It gets on your nerves after a while.
:22:17. > :22:21.It is frustrating. There isn't enough bullets or jail cells
:22:21. > :22:28.stopping Somali people taking to piracy. What we have to do is make
:22:28. > :22:32.it unprofitable. Every time they come out, they see a warship and
:22:32. > :22:36.that turns them away. I do not know whether we are winning or losing
:22:36. > :22:40.and maybe I should not have to worry too much about that. We
:22:40. > :22:47.deliver our mission and what I hate to think about his if there was not
:22:47. > :22:51.the Navy out here it would be like the Wild West. This is the last
:22:51. > :22:54.voyage for HMS Cornwall. When she returns home she will be
:22:54. > :23:03.decommissioned, a casualty of the UK defence cut. Other ships will
:23:03. > :23:12.carry on the mission. Few seafaring nations can afford to ignore the