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Canadian Sea King scares off pirates

June 4,
2008, HMCS Calgary – On the morning of 3 June 2008, just after Canadian Commodore
Bob Davidson assumed command of Combined Task Force 150 from French
Rear Admiral Jean-Louis Kerignard, one of Canada's Sea King
helicopters, embarked in Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Calgary,
intervened in an ongoing piracy attack on a commercial vessel
transiting the Gulf of Aden, approximately 65 nautical miles off the
coast of Somalia.

The frigate Calgary, one of three Canadian warships currently
assigned to Operation ALTAIR, Canada's maritime contribution to the
campaign against terrorism, was operating in the area when a broken
call for assistance was heard from a vessel apparently under attack by
small arms fire.

Calgary immediately altered course and increased speed to close the
scene. Her airborne Sea King was promptly redirected towards the area
and tasked to gather information on the situation. The helicopter's
arrival in the vicinity of the attack did not go unnoticed by the
perpetrators. Two small boats, commonly referred to as skiffs, were
observed in the area and appeared to be armed.

"I am convinced that the presence of our aircraft drove them away
from the traffic lanes and prevented any further attack today on
merchant shipping in the area," said Commander Kelly Larkin, Commanding
Officer of the multi-purpose frigate. "We continued to monitor those
two skiffs and their crew as they were heading back towards Somalia
territorial waters."

Ships assigned to this crucial operation deploy to the North
Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman, the Gulf of Aden, and parts of the
Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, where they work alongside many allied and
regional nations, building security and stability by monitoring
shipping, and countering terrorist activity.