MOSCOW. Oct 26 (Interfax) - The crew of a container ship rescued by Russian military sailors from pirates in the Gulf of Guinea consisted of 20 Ukrainian citizens, one Russian and one Romanian citizen.
"It was clarified that there were 22 people in the ship's crew: one Russian, one Romanian and 20 Ukrainians," commander of the detachment of the Russian Northern Fleet ships, Captain 1st rank Stanislav Varik said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the crew of Russia's Vice Admiral Kulakov large anti-submarine ship prevented pirates from seizing a civilian ship in the Gulf of Guinea of the Atlantic Ocean.
Varik said the operation began after receiving a signal from the International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre. He said a helicopter was dispatched to the civilian vessel, which was more than 80 kilometers away, despite the difficult weather conditions.
The officer said that eight pirates heard the sound of the helicopter and left the vessel at high speed by boat.
"I gave a command to put the detachment of ships on full alert, the teams of anti-terrorist marines on all the ships of our detachment were raised on alert, and the detachment started moving at maximum speed to the point of detection of this vessel," Varik said.
The Russian ships reached the container ship in two-and-a-half hours, he said.
"Already by this time I has contacted the international anti-piracy bureau and informed them that we were in contact with the vessel, that the pirates have been ousted from the area and their activities have been suppressed," he said.
It was unclear whether any of the pirates remained aboard the civilian ship, he said.
"The groups, namely, the assault team, the cover team from the marines were armed, instructed, and boarded a fast boat upon the arrival of the ship in the area of operation. A helicopter was again scrambled to provide fire cover from the air. There was also monitoring from an unmanned vehicle that was launched from the Vice Admiral Kulakov large anti-submarine ship," Varik said.
He said the military contacted the ship's crew, who had taken shelter in the deckhouse.
"Within 30 minutes, the group, covering each other, inspected the superstructure, top to bottom, it's about five decks, in quite complicated, tense, and emotional conditions, the actions were practiced, we were preparing for it and practicing," the officer said.
"The pirates were guaranteed to be driven out, and the ship's crew was released. There were no casualties. Now the ship is being escorted by a detachment of ships at the request of the captain, and the navigation will be monitored during today, further on, we will act by individual decisions," Varik said.
According to the Defense Ministry, the Russian Northern Fleet's unit, consisting of the Vice Admiral Kulakov large anti-submarine ship, the Akademik Pashin medium seagoing tanker and the Altai salvage tug, has been on a mission in the Gulf of Guinea for three weeks, maintaining civilian vessels' security and monitoring the above-water situation with the help of ship-based aircraft.
During their anti-piracy mission, the Northern Fleet's ships have checked several civilian vessels and prevented the seizure of a Panama-flagged dry cargo vessel.