It had been deposed by Yves-JeanVincent Marrec (PW1), the Captain of a French registered fishing vessel, the 'Talenduic', that on the morning of 17th November, 2010 the said vessel was attacked by armed men aboard two speeding attack skiffs. At the time of the attack, the Talenduic near another vessel, the 'Cap. Ste. Marie' which had been incapacitated due to a broken propeller. That Nicolas Kostrazwa (PW5) a member of the French navy on board the Talenduic had sighted the attack skiffs first at 04:00 GMT while on the lookout from the observation post and alerted the others on board.

Vincent Marrec ordered for the engine to be accelerated to its maximum capacity to avoid the skiffs catching up with them. After giving chase for some time, the skiffs, which were moving at a speed of about 20 knots abandoned their pursuit and left in the eastern direction. During the chase, the skiffs fired several times at the Talenduic with automatic rifles and Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG). Jacque Charrier (PW4) the officer in charge of the team protecting the Talenduic stated that the skiffs followed them over a distance and after a short time they started firing on them. But the attack had stopped when the five marines on board the Talenduic fired back around and over the bow of the skiffs.

All these events had unfolded in the clear view of Ludovic Fantino (PW2) the chief of the mariners charged with the duty to offer protection to the crew on board the Cap. Ste. Marie. Ludovic Fantino had received information on radio that skiffs were approaching their vessel and they took combat positions. Just like Vincent Marrec, Ludovic Fantino had gone out on the deck and used a pair of binoculars to see the vessels coming towards them. It was the evidence of both witnesses that the weather was very clear that morning to allow good viewing and they managed to see two attack skiffs moving side by side close to each other at a high speed of about 20 knots. That one was white while the other was blue with some white patches at the front part. The skiffs were quite close to the vessels, about 1.7 nautical miles and four people could be seen on each one of them.

Ludovic Fantino corroborated Vincent Marrec's testimony that as the skiffs were about to catch up with the Talenduic, they separated and one went on the starboard side while the other remained on the portside. This was however short lived. The assailants got repulsed by fire from the Talenduic when, following the rules of engagement at sea, flares and warning shots were fired in their direction. At that time, the witnesses further stated that they could not see the firearms apart from the fire which according to their familiarity and expertise with arms was coming from automatic weapons and RPG's.

The skiffs quickly turned back and sped off towards the Cap Ste Marie at 05:45 GMT. However, the warning shots fired by Norberry Geniez (PW3), one of the mariners on board, repelled the skiffs about one nautical mile away. They retreated and regrouped at some distance before returning, again at a very high speed to launch a second attack on the Talenduic. They continued firing automatic weapons and RPGs to which fire the Talenduic retaliated. Once overpowered by the Ta/enduic they tried a fresh attack on the Cap Ste Marie at 06:10 GMT. Ludovic Fantino again orderedmfor warning shots to be fired and Geniez fired one in the air and another in the water. It was the evidence of the witnesses that at that point the skiffs abandoned the whole exercise, retreated and maneuvered in the westerly direction.

Judgement: Convicted on three counts of Piracy. 18 years for count 1, 18 years for count 2 and 10 years for count 3 to be run concurrently.