Pirates convicted

11 pirates have been convicted in the Seychelles Supreme Court of committing acts of piracy and operating a pirate vessel between May 7 11 2012. Their sentences ranged from 18 months to 16 years. The pirates had been apprehended by the Royal Netherlands Navy frigate, HNLMS Van Amstel, on 11 May 2012, after the warship’s Lynx helicopter sighted a suspicious fishing dhow towing two skiffs, 400 nautical miles off the Somali coast. When the warship’s boarding team approached the dhow, the Dutch Navy crew found 11 suspected pirates of Somali origin and a total of 17 hostages on board.