MV Faina

Summary

Somali pirates boarded the Belize-flagged Ukrainian-crewed ro-ro cargo ship Faina in the Gulf of Aden. The vessel was carrying 33 T-72 Soviet-era tanks + munitions destined nominally for Kenya but ultimately for the Southern Sudan government — a shipment that became internationally controversial. The 21-strong crew (17 Ukrainian, 3 Russian, 1 Latvian) were held for 134 days off the Somali coast. The Master died of natural causes during captivity. The vessel and crew were released on 5 February 2009 after a reported $3.2 million ransom payment. The Faina case brought international attention to Somali piracy at an unprecedented scale and helped catalyse the multinational anti-piracy naval response (Combined Task Force 151, EU NAVFOR ATALANTA, NATO Operation Ocean Shield).

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