Pirates seize cargo vessel

2008-05-27 09:49

Nairobi - Somali pirates have hijacked a Panama-flagged cargo freighter off Somalia as it was sailing to the Romanian port of Constanza, its owner and a Kenyan maritime official said on Monday.

"A ship owned by Dutch Reider Shipping was boarded off the coast of Somalia by pirates... The ship was hijacked in international waters in the Gulf of Aden," said the owners.

"The crew members are four Russian officers and five Filipino seamen. All relatives of the crewmembers have been informed and have been offered every support available.

"The ship owners stress that its first and foremost priority is the security of the crew members," the statement added. The MV Amiya Scan was carrying a knocked-down drilling rig from the Kenyan port city of Mombasa when it was seized.

Denmark donates 4 200 tons of sugar

A Kenyan maritime official said the ill-fated freighter left Mombasa on May 19 with no contact since.

"When the vessel failed to call or communicate after it left Mombasa, then we knew it had been hijacked because it was sailing through dangerous waters off Somalia, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea," said Andrew Mwangura of the Kenyan branch of the Seafarers' Assistance Programme.

Mwangura said no ransom demands had been made so far.

Last Friday, Somali pirates released a Jordanian-flagged vessel, MV Victoria, that had been hijacked a week earlier while carrying 4 200 tons of sugar donated by Denmark to war-torn Somalia.

In April, forces from Somalia's breakaway Puntland region rescued a hijacked vessel from the United Arab Emirates. At least one pirate was killed during the raid while seven were arrested and later sentenced to life in prison.

Militants vow to resume fighting

In the same month, pirates seized a French luxury yacht with its crew of 30, and later a Spanish fishing boat. Both were released after a week with reports that heavy ransoms were paid.

The waters off Somalia, which had not had an effective central government for more than 17 years, were considered to be among the most dangerous in the world.

According to the International Maritime Bureau, more than 25 ships were seized off Somalia's 3 700km coastline last year despite patrols by an international force based in Djibouti.

These kind of attacks had stopped in the second half of 2006 during six months of strict rule by Islamist militants, who were ousted by Ethiopian and Somali government troops in early 2007. Then piracy resumed.

But over recent months, a multinational Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa (CTF 150), based in Djibouti and charged with fighting terrorism across the volatile region, had upped surveillance in the pirate-infested waters.

Last week, Islamist militants who had re-gained strength in Somalia vowed to resume fighting pirates.

Somalia, which lied at the mouth of the Red Sea, had been without an effective government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre sparked a bloody power struggle.

- AFP