A six-year-old video titled "Somali Pirates VS Ships' Private Security Guards" resurfaced online Thursday and quickly became viral. The renewed interest in the old video came on the heels of Somali Pirates' first hijacking of a commercial ship in five years.
The video "Somali Pirates VS Ships' Private Security Guards" became one of YouTube's top trending videos with more than 12 million views after it was re-uploaded, according to gCaptain. The leading maritime and offshore site slammed an unnamed "pro-seafarer page" that re-posted the old video. Since the footage has again gained traction, the maritime site took it upon itself to revisit the details that led to the shooting incident captured in the video.
The footage spanned over two minutes and 54 seconds and first made its appearance at a shipping conference in December 2011. An unidentified source then leaked the video in April 2012 on LiveLeak and sparked a controversy involving the high seas. The video "Somali Pirates VS Ships' Private Security Guards" began with MV Avocet's armed guards in a radio exchange as they spot a skiff in the distance. The team leader then orders warning shots, the skiff crashes into the Avocet and the shooting continues with a second skiff on sight.
Thomas Rothrauff, president of Trident Group that supplied the security crew for New York-based Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc., said the incident happened March 25, 2011 - the same year the Somali Pirates attacked 237 ships crossing the Horn of Africa region. He also told Bloomberg in May 2012 that some of the occupants in the skiffs might have been killed or injured but that they also fired back with AK-47s and that it was the Somali Pirates' second attempt to hijack the private ship in three days. Rothrauff maintained that the ships' private security guards operated in "full compliance with rules for use of force."
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