Pirates hijack 8 ships in two weeks
2008-11-19 07:35
Kuala Lumpur - Pirates hijacked a Thai fishing boat with 16 crew members off the coast of Somalia, the eighth ship to be seized in the area in the past two weeks, a maritime official said on Wednesday.
The boat was seized on Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur. Also onTuesday, an Iranian bulk cargo carrier with 25 crew members was seized in the area, according to earlier reports.
Both vessels were heading to the Middle East when they were hijacked, he said.
The Thai boat, which was flying a Kiribati flag but operated out of Thailand, made a distress call late on Monday as it was chased by pirates in two speedboats but the phone line got cut off midway, he said.
The bulk carrier was flying a Hong Kong flag but operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines.
Risks low, rewards extremely high
"There is no firm deterrent, that's why the pirate attacks are continuing. The criminal activities are flourishing because the risks are low and the rewards are extremely high," Choong said.
Tuesday's incidents bring the number of attacks in Somali waters this year to 95, with 39 ships hijacked.
Thai government spokesperson Nattawut Sai-gua said he had not been informed of the development. He said officials are checking with their diplomatic missions in the region.
Choong said 17 vessels remain in the hands of pirates, along with more than 300 crew, including a Ukrainian ship loaded with arms and a Saudi Arabian supertanker carrying $100m in crude oil.
Despite increased patrols by a multicoalition naval force, attacks have continued unabated off Somalia, which is caught up in an Islamic insurgency and has had no functioning government since 1991.
A major Norwegian shipping group Odfjell SE on Tuesday ordered its more than 90 tankers to sail around Africa rather than use the Suez Canal after the seizure of the Saudi tanker MV Sirius Star on Saturday.
Significant extra cost
"We will no longer expose our crew to the risk of being hijacked and held for ransom by pirates in the Gulf of Aden," said Terje Storeng, Odfjell's president and chief executive. "Unless we are explicitly committed by existing contracts to sail through this area, as from today we will reroute our ships around Cape of Good Hope."
The Gulf of Aden, off Somalia, connects to the Red Sea, which in turn is linked to the Mediterranean by the Suez Canal. The route is thousands of kilometres and many days shorter than going around the Cape of Good Hope off the southern tip of Africa.
"This will incur significant extra cost, but we expect our customers' support and contribution," Storeng said.
Barbara Surk in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Mohamed Sheikh Nor and Mohamed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu, Somalia, and Ambika Ahuja in Bangkok contributed to this report.
- AP