Pirates hijack ship off Somalia
2002-01-18 09:44
Kuala Lumpur - A Lebanese-owned cargo ship running low on fuel is being held by a gang of armed pirates in Somali waters, says an international piracy centre based in Malaysia.
The MV Princess Sarah was attacked by pirates on Monday, but
crew only managed to alert French navy officials late on
Thursday, said Noel Choong, regional manager of the Piracy
Reporting Centre here.
"The crisis is still continuing and the Princess crew is still
under the pirates' threat," he said.
The 10 heavily-armed pirates were holding the crew hostage
and had demanded $200 000 dollars for their release, adding that the ship's owners in Lebanon had yet to react to the demands.
"They have no more drinkable water and only two days worth of
fuel left," said Choong.
French maritime patrol aircraft alerted the piracy centre late on Thursday after receiving a distress call from the ship.
Choong said the centre had always issued warnings for ships to
steer clear of the Somali coast, which was notorious for piracy.
"In the past, loads of ships have been hijacked and people have died, so we were surprised the ship was there," he said.
The ship's 18-member crew, including four Lebanese, eight
Ukrainians, five Egyptians and one Syrian national, were reportedly unharmed. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA