2011 The MV Beluga Nomination incident[1] was the capture and attempted liberation of a German freighter from Somali pirates by the Seychelles Coast Guard and Royal Danish Navy in January 2011.

A few days after the taking of MV Beluga Nomination, a Seychelles patrol boat and a Danish flexible support ship, HDMS Esbern Snare, encountered the pirates and engaged in a failed rescue operation.

The incident began on 22 January when pirates in a single skiff, from the mother ship MV York, attacked Beluga Nomination while she was sailing approximately 435 miles (700 km) north of the Seychelles Islands.

Automatic weapons fire erupted when the Somalis boarded the freighter, at which time the crew of twelve men sent out a distress call and entered the ship's citadel.

The distress call was picked up by allied naval forces operating in the area on 22 January and the closest warship to the scene of Beluga Nomination's seizure was a Seychellois patrol boat, and the Danish command and support ship HDMS Esbern Snare.