\n<\/p>\n
On April 9, the crew of the Spanish Navy patrol vessel Serviola <\/em>successfully rescued the crew of a Nigerian merchant vessel from a gang of pirates. <\/p>\n The Serviola's <\/em>crew observed the Nigerian vessel behaving in an unusual manner for a merchant ship, and they spotted a small boat in its vicinity, raising suspicion. The vessel did not respond to radio calls, so the Serviola's <\/em>commanding officer launched two small RIBs to investigate. As the Serviola's <\/em>launches approached, the small boat fled the scene at high speed. <\/p>\n "As we approached, we found that there was no response and that the boat moved away," said Capitán de Corbeta Román González-Cela Echevarría, the CO of the Serviola<\/em>, speaking to Spanish radio service COPE.<\/p>\n When the Serviola's <\/em>boarding party reached the merchant ship, its captain told them that the vessel had been hijacked four days ago, and that the Serviola's <\/em>rapid approach and continuous radio calls scared off the pirates. According to the captain, the group of pirates consisted of nine attackers armed with AK-47 rifles and grenade launchers. The pirates had pointed their guns at the master and ordered him not to answer the Serviola's <\/em>VHF calls. <\/p>\n El patrullero 'Serviola' @armada_esp<\/a> libera a un buque mercante de bandera nigeriana de un secuestro de un grupo de nueve piratas. Aqu\u00ed ???? las im\u00e1genes desde el buque espa\u00f1ol, en labores de Vigilancia y Seguridad Mar\u00edtima en el Golfo de Guinea<\/p>\n M\u00e1s info????https:\/\/t.co\/Vx2EibHciZ<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/cLu4TMNyPs<\/a><\/p>\n\n