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Pirates hijack UN ship
30/06/2005 11:51 - (SA)
Nairobi - Pirates seized a ship carrying United Nations food aid to northeast Somalia as it was delivering its cargo, a statement from the World Food Programme said on Thursday.
Somali gunmen boarded the MV Semlow, registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines, on June 27 and took the crew of 10 hostage, the statement said. The captain of the vessel is Sri Lankan, the engineer is Tanzanian and the remaining eight crew are Kenyan.
The ship was carrying 850 metric tons of rice donated by Japan and Germany for tsunami victims in Somalia.
Piracy along the Somalia coast is common. Several ships a month are attacked, if not actually hijacked. Valuables are usually stolen and the crews held for ransom. This is the first time the United Nations has reported a ship hijacked by Somali pirates.
World Food Programme officials have contacted clan elders to negotiate the release of the ship and its cargo and crew, the statement said.
"It is against international humanitarian law to hinder the passage of humanitarian assistance and there is no justification for hijacking," the statement said.
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