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Seized ships in Somali village
17/05/2007 10:23 - (SA)
Somalia - Pirates who hijacked two South Korean fishing vessels with 24 crew members aboard have sailed the ships to a village on the coast of Somalia, a maritime watchdog said on Thursday.
"All the crew members are safe," said Noel Choong, the head of the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre, which is based in Malaysia.
"The boats have been taken to a village on the Somali coast," he said. "Somali pirates are known to hijack ships, demand ransom and subsequently release the crew and ship."
The Tanzania-registered ships, identified as Mavuno-1 and Mavuno-2, were captured together on Tuesday by suspected Somali pirates en route from Kenya's port of Mombasa to Yemen.
Four of the crew are believed to be from South Korea, 10 from China, three from Vietnam, four from Indonesia and three from India.
The hijackings were the second and third attacks this week off Somali waters, which the IMB has branded as among the most dangerous in the world.
"The attack on the two fishing boats happened almost at the same place. It could be carried out by the same pirates. All ships in the Indian Ocean passing through the coast of Somalia must remain vigilant," Choong said.
He urged British, French and United States coalition forces to mount more patrols to stop the attacks, and warned ships in the Indian Ocean to sail 200 nautical miles away from Somalia's coast.
"If the attacks continue, we fear it may disrupt the shipping route," he said.
The IMB said the three attacks this week brought the total to nine this year in the area, with the previous six attacks near the Somali coast.
Somalia, which lies at the tip of the Red Sea, has been without an effective government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre sparked a bloody power struggle.
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