April 2009 raid off Somalia The April 2009 raid off Somalia was a military operation conducted by France and Germany to retake the French yacht " Tanit " on 9 April 2009 , a yacht which had been captured by Somali pirates on April 4 , 2009 . It occurred during Operation Atalanta , a European Union mission in Somali waters . The pirates had attempted to extract a ransom by holding the yacht ' s occupants hostage , but were ultimately defeated when the French Navy assaulted them . Background . The " Tanit " , a privately owned French yacht named after the Phoenician lunar goddess , with its five crew and passengers was sailing to Zanzibar when it was boarded by pirates on 4 April . Among the hostages were a family of three including a three year old boy , and two friends of the family who joined them in Aden . The ship ' s owners , the Lemaçons , started from Vannes in July 2008 and sailed south to the coast of Spain . This was a family trip “ to escape consumer society ” . They planned to visit Kenya and Zanzibar . Even after meeting with a couple whose yacht , the " Carré d ' As IV " , had been captured by pirates , and later rescued by French commandos , they continued on their journey . The pirates headed the vessel for the coast but were overrun two days later by a French frigate . French forces attempted to negotiate with the pirates offering them money and offering to exchange the mother and child for a French soldier . The pirates declined this . Instead , they were overheard discussing using explosives to blow up the yacht . Action . Fifty commandos were sent from France to a French base at Djibouti on 9 April , in readiness for the assault . Joined locally by 20 more commandos , they parachuted from a C - 130 Hercules plane into the sea , to be picked up by three French warships that had been tracking the pirates , together with a German frigate equipped with hospital facilities . The French attempted to negotiate with the pirates , and even offered to exchange one of the hostages for an officer . The pirates refused to cooperate , stating that they could get better terms once they reached the coast . Seeing the pirates were uncooperative a sniper on - board one of the vessels managed to shoot down the sails and to damage the mast and the yacht . This the French believed would put them in a better negotiating position , but it created havoc on board , causing the pirates to refuse to accede to any of the French demands . Allegedly , after threats to execute the hostages were heard , the French Navy decided the next day to board the boat and free the hostages . French commandos attacked the hijacked vessel from different directions in two speedboats . The pirates opened fire and the special forces team fired back . French naval commandos then boarded the vessel and rescued the hostages . However , Florent Lemaçon , the boat ' s captain and father of the three - year old boy , was being held hostage in his cabin . When French commandos entered , they engaged in a shootout with the pirates , during which Lemaçon was killed , possibly shot by the commandos in error . Aftermath . After the fighting ended the four freed hostages were taken in one of the frigates , to Djibouti , and from there transported back to France . Three pirates were taken to Rennes for questioning . In total , 70 men of the French naval forces , including men of the French commando " Hubert " , French frigates " Aconit " , " Floréal " and " Commandant Ducuing " and German frigate " Mecklenburg - Vorpommern " participated in the operation .