Japanese escapes hijackers

2007-11-12 10:19

Nairobi - A crew member of a Japanese chemical tanker hijacked by pirates off the Somali coast on October 28 had escaped and was rescued after spending two days at sea, said a maritime official on Monday.

Andrew Mwangura, head of the Kenya chapter of the Seafarers' Assistance Programme, said: "We are informed that one crew member escaped from the vessel, swam and was rescued."

The Golden Nori was hijacked with 23 crew members, including two South Koreans.

Mwangura said: "After the vessel was hijacked, the crew member swam for two days after which he was saved and he is now reported to be in South Korea," adding that he could not confirm for the moment if the man was South Korean.

The United States Navy, whose vessels had assisted hijacked freighters in recent weeks, had appealed to the pirates to leave the vessel.

Rampant piracy off Somalia's vast coastline stopped in the second half of 2006 during six months of strict rule by an Islamist movement that was ousted by Ethiopian and Somali government troops at the end of the year.

Somalia lied at the mouth of the Red Sea - on a major trade route between Asia and Europe via the Suez canal - and had lacked a functional government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

The International Maritime Bureau has urged freighters to stay away from Somalia, whose 3 700km coastline was a hotspot for sea ambushes.

- AFP