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U.S. to open a test case that allows prosecution in Kenya courts of 16 suspects arrested in the Gulf of Aden

ABOARD THE U.S.S. VELLA GULF — American warships have caught more than a dozen suspected pirates here in the Gulf of Aden in the past week, testing a unique legal arrangement between the U.S. and Kenya that officials hope will result in trials, jail time and, eventually, fewer pirates.

Naval officials have long said they can’t stop piracy with ships alone, and maritime lawyers believed jurisdiction questions made bringing pirates to justice difficult.

But starting last year, governments around the globe deployed forces here anyway, as attacks soared and threatened one of the world’s most important sea lanes. In September, hijackers seized a cargo ship loaded with tanks bound for Kenya. In November, they captured a fully laden Saudi Arabian oil tanker. Both vessels were released earlier this year after ransoms were paid.

Last month, Washington created a special task force dedicated to fighting pirates. Britain, Denmark, Turkey and Singapore joined in, U.S. officials said. The European Union has its own naval task force, and Chinese and Russian navies are providing escorts for their national shipping interests in the region.

All the firepower is resulting in thwarted attacks. On Wednesday, hijackers in small boats sped alongside a merchant ship and slapped a ladder against its hull. Helicopters and small boats attached to a U.S. guided-missile cruiser swooped in, surrounding the skiffs and apprehending the crew.

Early the next morning, an American destroyer sped to the rescue of an Indian-flagged merchant ship trying to outrun a pursuing speedboat. American ships apprehended nine alleged attackers in that engagement. On Friday, a Russian ship nabbed three more skiffs full of suspected pirates.

But catching pirates is just half the battle. International law makes piracy a crime, but nations have struggled to figure out where to send suspects and how to gather evidence in cases that occurred in international waters. In September, a Danish ship captured 10 alleged pirates, but ended up simply landing them back onshore in Somalia.

To back up the military firepower, the U.S. and Britain recently signed legal agreements with Kenya. As part of the deals — essentially extradition treaties for the high seas — Kenya has agreed to try suspected pirates plucked from the Gulf of Aden.

The 16 men captured last week are expected to be transferred to Kenya in coming weeks. They will be the agreement’s first test case.

Wary of becoming a dumping ground for suspected pirates, Kenya has so far agreed to take only a limited number of cases. The government has provided the Navy a checklist of evidence required to prosecute, U.S. officials said. A Kenyan government spokesman didn’t respond to repeated phone calls.

“The big holdup was finding someone who would prosecute international piracy,” said Coast Guard Lt. Greg Ponzi, a law-enforcement officer who usually is pursuing drug runners in U.S. waters.

U.S. Navy officials initially were reluctant to enter the fray here. Without fundamental improvements in largely ungoverned Somalia, pirate havens there would continue to flourish, they said. Officers also said the size of the Gulf of Aden and surrounding waters made it impossible to respond in time to every attack.

Now, flush with some initial success, commanders appear more optimistic that they can make a difference. “The task force won’t be the final answer but it’s one of the key things,” said Rear Adm. Terrence McKnight, the U.S. task force commander. “It’s going to take a lot of time and hard work before we solve it, but … I think we’ve made significant headway.”

The task force made its first catch Wednesday afternoon.

The Vella Gulf picked up a distress call from a merchant ship. It dispatched a helicopter and chased down the skiff.  At 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, a second distress call came in on an open, international radio channel. Navy Ensign Ian Townsend was standing watch on the bridge of the destroyer U.S.S. Mahan. The call came from the Premdivya, an Indian-flagged merchant vessel. The captain reported the skiff was shooting at the ship and was gaining fast.

The Mahan was about 17 kilometers away. As the warship closed in, the pirates abruptly sped off into the night.

While the relieved crew of the Premdivya crew continued its voyage, the Vella Gulf, a guided-missile cruiser, sprang into action. With the new legal agreement in place but untested, the ship’s commander, Capt. Mark Genung, said he was eager to capture the pirates and gather evidence for “an iron-clad case.”

The Vella Gulf was an hour or more steaming from the Premdivya, so it launched a helicopter from its deck to scan for the fleeing boat in the moonlight. Just as the chopper was about to head back, Petty Officer Second Class Jason Fariss saw a speck flickering on the helicopter’s radar screen.

They sighted the skiff as dawn broke. The Mahan launched an unmanned aerial drone to take footage of the boat, capturing images of a large ladder.

The helicopter crew fired warning shots across the bow, and the suspects cut their motor. They also started dumping objects, including the ladder, over the side, according to members of the helicopter crew.

The three American task-force ships converged and launched dinghies. Americans searched the boat and the crew, and then motored them in pairs back to the Vella Gulf.

Keith Allen, a Mississippi-born federal investigator, then sped out from the ship to inspect the skiff and help gather evidence. The 10-year veteran detective found weapons: a rocket-propelled grenade, three rusty AK-47s, two heavier guns, a semi-automatic pistol, and a stash of ammunition and spent shell casings.