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Boats hijacked near Somalia
01/09/2005 13:08 - (SA)
Taipei - Three Taiwanese fishing boats have been hijacked off the coast of Somalia and pirates are threatening to kill dozens of crewmen unless the ship owners pay a total ransom of $1.5m, officials said on Thursday.
The Chung Yi 218, Cheng Ching Feng and Hsin Lien Feng 36 were seized separately in mid-August, said Taiwan's foreign ministry spokesperson Michel Lu.
"We received the appeal for help from the ships' owners on August 24," Lu said.
"They said the hijackers had demanded a ransom of $500 000 for each ship and the crew and threatened to kill them all if the demanded amount was not paid," he said, adding that details of the events were sketchy.
There are about 20 crew on board each of the 95-ton ships. Except for Taiwanese skippers and several senior officers, the other sailors come from the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam, Lu said.
Rescue efforts have been under way through different diplomatic channels, Lu said. "As of now all the crew are safe."
Somalia was plunged into anarchy after strongman Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991 and the country disintegrated into a patchwork of fiefdoms run by unruly warlords and clan militia chiefs.
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