Captain recalls facing down pirates
Published: 18 Sep. 2009, 02:34
Captain Jang Sung-Woo
Captain Jang Sung-Woo, who led the 300-person-strong Navy unit that returned on Monday after 186 days of anti-piracy operations, said his troops interdicted the pirates just as “tensions between the two Koreas over the North’s nuclear arms programs escalated.”
Jang commanded the first Cheonghae unit aboard the 4,500-ton destroyer Munmu the Great. It departed Korea on March 13. After the successful operation in the Gulf of Aden, the destroyer docked at the pier of Jinhae Naval Base here on Tuesday.
According to Jang, the South’s troops have participated in touchy missions. The average period of a single anti-piracy operation takes about 20 days at sea, he said.
During their deployment, the unit participated in 22 missions and escorted 325 Korean commercial vessels traveling in the shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia. The mission was punctuated by seven successful rescues of ships under attack by pirates.
During one incident, Jang said, “We were worried that the pirates would open fire at us, because they had already shot at a commercial ship from the Bahamas. But we successfully subdued the pirates.”
Still, what Jang remembered most was the rescue of the North Korean ship.
According to Jang, an SOS by the North Korean captain of the cargo ship was detected by the Munmu the Great’s crew on May 4. After a brief hesitation whether to speak in Korean or not, Jang communicated with the North Korean ship in English, offering help.
The South Korean Navy unit only identified its nationality after successfully rescuing the North Koreans, Jang said. “Then, the captain of Dabaksol expressed appreciation, asking why I had spoken in English. He also asked us to escort the ship back to the safe zone.”
According to another member of the team, the South destroyer and its sailors were extremely efficient.
“After receiving a transmission seeking help to fight pirates, we needed to rescue the commercial ship within 20 to 30 minutes. If we failed to get there in time, the ship would be commandeered by pirates,” said Navy Commander Jeong Seung-gyun, operations chief of the Cheonghae Unit. “It only took five minutes for us to send out our helicopter. Other countries including the U.S. often took about 20 minutes.
“South Korea’s Navy is trained for a quick response, including routine anti-spy drills. Training continued while we were on the move, and I think the exercises paid off because of our efficiency and speedy response.”
He said the conditions were extremely harsh. The humidity was nearly 100 percent and the sun was so hot that soldiers could fry eggs on the metal deck floors, he said. He added that thankfully the Munmu the Great had a great air conditioning system, boosting the pride of sailors in Korea.
Jeong said one ton of kimchi was sent by Navy Admiral Jung Ok-keun, Korea’s chief of Naval Operations, as a reward for the difficult mission. “The sailors ate steamed rice with precious kimchi,” he said.
During more than six months of deployment, four of the crewmen learned that they had become fathers. One sailor even underwent an appendicectomy on the destroyer.
“Allied forces gave high marks to the Korean Navy’s capabilities and assigned us to the most pirate-infested area of northern Bosaso off of Somalia,” said Captain Jang. “We are proud to raise Korea’s reputation in the international community.”
By Jeong Yong-soo [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)