Hanka Freighter Hijacking

Historical Event

Written by Fulma02

Introduction

The NorCom Hanka hijacking led to a series of maritime events that began on 1 June 1972, when four pirates in the Arshnelic Strait seized the Norlandian cargo ship Hanka Freighter nearby Port Tūreh. The siege ended after a rescue effort by the Norlandian Navy on 4 June.

Background

Sources acknowledge that the hijacking's purpose was not to extort the valuable cargo inside the ship that could be worth tens of millions of dollars. But rather as a political statement targeted at the Norlandian government. The "threat" was in a form of a broadcast that was disseminated to the Norlandian government. The broadcats contained numerous demands and requests which comprised of the calculated conveying of several islands in the Arshnelic strait to the Katkal government. Failure or disavowal would lead to the hostages' executions. The incident was the first successful pirate seizure of a ship registered under the Norlandian flag since the 19th century. Many international historians cited that the last seizure or attack was during the First Reformation Event in 1848. although other incidents are believed to have occurred until at least the late 19th century. It was the first vessel in a series of freighter ships to be attacked by terrorists, who had previously attempted to hijack other international ships.

Hijacking

On 1 April 1972, four presumably armed boats attacked the ship. All four of the boats consisted of exactly 4 gunmen for each boat. according to the Secretary of Defense of Norland at that time. When the alarm sounded, the Captain of the ship brought 21 members of the crew into a secure room. As the armed boats approached, the remaining crew fired flares. In addition, the bridge crew swung the ship's rudder, which swamped the nearby boats. Nonetheless, the ship was boarded. The crew had initially taken main engine control away from the bridge and had taken control of the steering gear. They then shut down all ship systems and the entire vessel "went offline." The pirates captured the Captain and his Engineers and several other crew members minutes after boarding, but soon found that they could not control the ship. A few of the crew remained outside the secure room lying in wait, knife in hand, for a visit from the pirates who were trying to locate the missing crew members in order to snatch them and intensify the hostage situation. Promptly a fight began between the crew and terorrists, this resulted in the deaths of two of the crew members and the death of one of the gunmen, his death was covered by the crew who hid his body. Later, after suffering in the overheated secure room for hours, the crew attempted to exchange the valuable cargo whom they had access to, but the exchange went awry and the gunmen refused to accept the agreement as they were not interested in wealth. The captain then escorted the pirates to a lifeboat to show them how to operate it, but then the gunmen shot and murdered him after they found out that one of their men was killed by the crew.

Rescue Operation

On 2 June, a Norlandian Navy destroyer was dispatched to Port Tūreh in response to the hostage situation, carrying two military helicopters on board. The ships reached NorCom Hanka early on 3 June. NorCom Hanka was then escorted from the area to its original destination where Captain Karim Halalli took command of the ship. The forenamed Captain who was killed by the gunmen had relieved Karim a few days earlier. A stand-off began on 3 June, between the Norlandian destroyers and the terrorists' lifeboat from NorCom Hanka, on which they kept the body of the dead captain. The destroyer was equipped with a rigid-hulled inflatable boats or RHIB. The Norlandian vessel stayed several hundred yards away, out of the terrorists' range of fire. A surveillance helicopter secured aerial footage and reconnaissance. A total of 62 hostages were on the Hanka. On the night of 3 April, hostages sought to escape from the Hanka, but was recaptured after the captors fired shots. The Norlandian Navy, thibking that the terrorists have started executing the hostages, dispatched a RHIB with special forces on-board. The strategy was to board the ship without alerting the terrorists, who were found to still be holding various hostages. Meanwhile, negotiations were ongoing between the terrorists and Norlandian hostage negotiators. However, negotiations broke down after the terorrists fired on the Norlandian destroyer not long after sunrise on Saturday, 4 April. The Norlandian frigate however did not return fire. No crew members on the destroyer were injured from the gunfire, as the shots were fired haphazardly by on of the gunmen from the front hatch of the lifeboat. Later that day, the 18-man special forces team successfully boarded the Hanka. A gunfight in and around the ship between special forces and the terrorists soon ensued that lasted for approximately 18 minutes, with all of the terrorists killed and only two of the special forces wounded.

Aftermath

In the conclusion of the attack, all 16 of the terrorists were shot dead, all of the hostages survived except for the captain, and 2 Norlandian special forces soldiers injured. The incident lasted for nearly 4 days and would lead to the controversial but abrupt invasion of Katkal by Norlandian military forces. Causes for the invasion would encompass the suspected support of the terrorists by the Katkal government. At the time of the hijacking, NorCom Hanka was owned by the Norlandian international trading company, NorCommerce. The ship has since been acquired by the Norlandian government and has been renamed to the Shja'e or "The Brave" in Nardiks. The name was given in honor and recognition of the brave crew of the ship. As of 2021, the ship is no longer in service and is used as an international tourist attraction. The NorCom Hanka's lifeboat, still filled with bullet holes, is now no longer in service for the Hanka and is donated to the government. The boat now lies in display at the National Navy Museum in Kee City where it is permanently anchored to a nearby port. Tourists and visitors can visit the boat everyday at weekends where it is open for the public.

Legacy

The story of the incident was reported by Captain Karim Halalli, who had been master of the vessel after the previous unnamed captain was shot dead. A year after, the story was written in an infamous book named 3 Rawiz Asart, or 3 Days Captive in English. The book was later adapted in numerous films created by Norlandian studios and foreign studios. However, a film created in 2003 with the same name as the book was the most succesful, starring multiple Norlandian actors.