Their sentences range from 18 months to 16 years after being found guilty of operating a pirate vessel between 7 and 11 May 2012.
The men were apprehended by the Royal Netherlands Navy on 11 May 2012 after a suspicious fishing dhow towing 2 skiffs, was spotted 400 miles off Somali.
A fly past by a Dutch naval helicopter reportedly identified what looked like piracy-related equipment on board, such as ladders.
When the dhow was approached it was found to contain eleven suspected pirates of Somali origin and a total of seventeen hostages on board.
The dhow had apparently been pirated ten days earlier off the Omani coast and was being used to carry out pirate attacks on merchant vessels.
The Dutch boarding team found “significant evidence” that linked the men to an unsuccessful armed attack on the 105,528-dwt Super Lady (built 2000) a few days earlier.
The Republic of the Seychelles agreed to accept for prosecution eleven suspect pirates on 16 May and they were handed over by the Dutch three days later.
The Royal Netherlands Navy is participating in the EU Naval Force that has been conducting counter piracy operation off Somalia since December 2008.
