A court in the town of Mombasa, Kenya has sentenced seven Somalis to go through five years imprisonment for acts of piracy. The gang was convicted of attacking the German Navy tanker FGS Spessart in the Gulf of Aden on March 29 of the last year. The attack was foiled and the pirates fled. Later the boat was tracked as a result of joint efforts of multinational task forces and apprehended by the German frigate operating as a part of EU Navfor.

The sentence is not being seen as sufficient by some has overall been welcomed by maritime organizations world over. It is being hailed as a major step marking cooperation between the European Union and the country of Kenya for checking acts of robbery and piracy off the coast of Somalia. The prevailing anarchy and lawlessness in Somalia has led to piracy thriving on its coasts.