Action of 28 October 2007 The Action of 28 October 2007 was part of Operation " Enduring Freedom " , the military operation defined by the United States for combating terrorism in the Horn of Africa . The incident occurred when United States Navy units acted to interdict piracy in the region . Background . After a decrease in piracy in the first half of 2007 , Somali pirates rebounded and again started to increase their attacks on shipping off the coast of Somalia . On 28 October 2007 , pirates hijacked the Japanese tanker the MV " Golden Nori " , eight nautical miles ( 15 km ) off the Somali coast . Military confrontation . After receiving a distress call , the USS " Porter " , an " Arleigh Burke " - class destroyer , arrived at the scene and attacked and sank two skiffs being towed by the tanker . The tanker ' s owner and operator , Dorval Kaiun Shipping , reported that its cargo consisted of four kinds of chemicals , including highly flammable benzene . The United States Fifth Fleet spokesperson , Lydia Roberts , stated , " we were aware of what was on the ship when we fired " . As the hijacked tanker continued underway , the " Porter ' s " sister ship USS " Arleigh Burke " received authorization from Somali authorities to pursue it . This is the first incident of Somali piracy where the United States Navy was given permission for pursuit within Somali territorial waters . The Navy continued to shadow the vessel through October and November , 2007 . One of the crewmembers escaped from the ship and made it to safety , angering the pirates and complicating the situation even further . In November negotiations started for the tanker ' s release , but by 4 December the " Golden Nori " had been cornered in the port of Bosasso by two American and one German ship . Coalition forces called on the pirates to surrender , threatening them with military force if the standoff continued . The pirates in return demanded one million dollars in ransom , saying if it was not paid they would kill all 21 members of the crew . On 12 December , the pirates left the vessel for the coast and set the crew free . It is still unclear if the pirates received their demanded ransom , or left simply because of the pressure applied by the Coalition . Similar incident . Another hijacking in the same region occurred late on 29 October when gunmen attacked the North Korean freighter " Dai Hong Dan " . A helicopter from the , responding to a telephoned report of a hijacking , flew over the freighter on 30 October and radioed a demand for the attackers to surrender . The freighter ' s crew subsequently overwhelmed the gunmen , killing one and detaining the rest . With the permission of the freighter ' s crew , US Navy forces boarded the freighter to treat the wounded , which included three crewmen and three pirates . This hijacking may not have been the work of indiscriminate area pirates ; the hijackers are believed to be security guards hired by the freighter ' s shipping agent . Aftermath . After the release of the " Golden Nori " , the US Navy started pressuring pirates on other vessels to release their captives and flee . Not too long after the release of the " Golden Nori " all other vessels were released , some after US warships threatened to use force to remove the pirates on them . Some of the pirates fled without taking any ransoms , but it appears that others were indeed given ransom payments before leaving the ships they had taken . American ships escorted the freed vessels out of Somali waters and provided assistance to the crews of those vessels . All vessels were freed and no vessel was captured by pirates for a matter of months after the release of the " Golden Nori " , allowing for a short period of peace along the coast .