Hijacked food ship sails again

2005-09-22 21:25

Nairobi - A UN-chartered vessel hijacked by Somali pirates in June left the Somalian port of El-Maan on Thursday as the nearly three-month-old saga took a new turn with fresh demands from the gunmen, officials said.

The St Vincent and the Grenadines-registered MV Semlow carrying hundreds of tonnes of World Food Programme aid for Somali tsunami victims left El-Maan apparently headed for Mogadishu shortly after a deadline set by port officials for the release of the ship and 10-member crew expired, they said.

"The ship has left the port of El-Maan to Mogadishu," WFP spokesperson Robin Lodge said.

"This follows the expiry of the 13:00 (10:00 GMT) deadline set by port authorities for the hijackers to offload the cargo and release the crew," he said.

"They also issued new ransom demands, inclunding re-embursement for fuel and engine oil," Lodge said, adding that he had no other details about the new demands.

The Kenya-based owners of the Semlow confirmed the ship had left El-Maan, about 35km north of Mogadishu but could not provide additional details.

The vessel had arrived in El-Maan on Monday after being held by the pirates off the town of Haradere, about 300km north of Mogadishu, where it was hijacked in pirate infested waters on June 27.

On Monday, the pirates, who have alternately demanded a ransom payment and the 850 tonnes of German- and Japanese-donated rice for the release of the ship and crew, asked for $100 000 to offload the food and transport it by land back to Haradere.

The WFP has repeatedly refused to pay any ransom for the release of the ship, its crew and cargo.

- AFP