Captain Darch was doing his duty delivering this tug from St. Petersburg to Singapore when he came under attack by pirates off Somalia.When approached by a single speed boat he held them at bay using the power of his engines to threaten to sink the pirates. But when a second speed boat approached and opened fire with rifles he had no choice but to let them on-board. In total there were 20 pirates (circled in the picture above) against just the captain and his five crew.
Eventually they were let free - but only after the ship's owner had paid up a ransom rumoured to be $700,000.
More here and here.
