Pirates hijack ship off Somalia

2005-12-07 00:36

Nairobi - A merchant vessel has been reported hijacked in the pirate-infested waters off Somalia in what is feared to be the latest in a surge of attacks on commercial shipping in the region.

If confirmed, the hijacking would be the fifth ship in the area in the hands of pirates and the 33rd attack on ships in and around Somali waters since mid-March.

Andrew Mwangura of the Kenyan chapter of the Seafarers' Assistance Programme (SAP) said his organisation was told that a ship of unknown ownership and registry had been seized on Tuesday.

Mwangura said: "We were called by traders who frequent the Mogadishu-Mombasa route and told that a new merchant ship had been hijacked off north-eastern Somalia.

He said the reports indicated the vessel was taken near the Somali town of Haradere.

One ship freed

The town is considered a base for pirates. The recent attacks have prompted dire warnings to avoid the coast and calls for foreign intervention.

Until Tuesday, the International Maritime Board (IMB) had recorded 32 hijackings in the area since March 15, including a November 5 attack on a United States-owned luxury ocean liner and two freighters carrying food aid for the United Nations.

In the past two weeks, Somali pirates have freed a hijacked Kenyan-owned cargo ship, the MV Torgelow, and its 10-man crew, as well as an Ukrainian vessel, the MV Panagia, with its crew of 22. Both ships were seized in October.

Before Tuesday's hijacking, Somali pirates held at least four hijacked vessels - the Thai-owned MV Laemthong Glory, with an unknown number of crew, and three Taiwanese fishing boats with 48 sailors.

The spate of attacks has prompted warnings for mariners to stay at least 200 nautical miles from the coast, and sparked calls for Somalia's unpatrolled waters to be declared a war zone.

- AFP