Pirates seize ro-ro vessel and its crew of 24 off port of Aden
Source: Agencies |
March 30, 2010, Tuesday
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PIRATES yesterday seized a roll-on roll-off ship named MV Iceberg 1 with 24 crew members off the port of Aden, Yemen, a maritime monitoring agency said.
It was the third ship reported to have been seized by pirates in the waters off east Africa since Saturday.
"The owners reported to NATO that pirates boarded the ro-ro vessel MV Iceberg 1 today just 10 miles outside Aden Port in the Gulf of Aden," said Kenya-based Ecoterra.
"The vessel with her 24 member crew is now commandeered toward the Somali coast." Ecoterra gave no more information on the hijacked vessel.
Somali buccaneers are highly active off the coast of Somalia, increasing the range of their attacks, acquiring millions of dollars in ransoms and defying a flotilla of foreign warships that is trying to monitor the region's sea lanes.
Somali pirates also seized a Seychelles fishing boat and its six crew 96 kilometers off the coast of the archipelago's main island, a pirate source and the boat owner's sister said.
"We've been informed by the (Seychelles) authorities... that Somalis have captured the boat. When they were captured they were about 60 miles off the island of Mahe," said Kerry Mathieu, sister of the owner of the fishing boat Galate.
"We had six crew on board, all Seychellois. We've had no contact with the crew since they were hijacked," she said.
The Seychelles coast guard's acting chief, Major George Adeline, said it had a vessel monitoring the hijacked boat, now 320 kilometers off the archipelago's capital Mahe.
A pirate source said two ships were hijacked at the weekend.
"We hijacked two boats on Saturday night and Sunday in the Indian Ocean," pirate Hussein said. "One is an Iranian tourist boat with 21 crew, and the other is a Seychelles boat with six crew."
There was no confirmation that the Iranian boat had been seized.
Sea gangs have plagued the busy shipping lanes off Somalia for years. Some ships are held for ransom, others are used as "motherships" for transport.
It was the third ship reported to have been seized by pirates in the waters off east Africa since Saturday.
"The owners reported to NATO that pirates boarded the ro-ro vessel MV Iceberg 1 today just 10 miles outside Aden Port in the Gulf of Aden," said Kenya-based Ecoterra.
"The vessel with her 24 member crew is now commandeered toward the Somali coast." Ecoterra gave no more information on the hijacked vessel.
Somali buccaneers are highly active off the coast of Somalia, increasing the range of their attacks, acquiring millions of dollars in ransoms and defying a flotilla of foreign warships that is trying to monitor the region's sea lanes.
Somali pirates also seized a Seychelles fishing boat and its six crew 96 kilometers off the coast of the archipelago's main island, a pirate source and the boat owner's sister said.
"We've been informed by the (Seychelles) authorities... that Somalis have captured the boat. When they were captured they were about 60 miles off the island of Mahe," said Kerry Mathieu, sister of the owner of the fishing boat Galate.
"We had six crew on board, all Seychellois. We've had no contact with the crew since they were hijacked," she said.
The Seychelles coast guard's acting chief, Major George Adeline, said it had a vessel monitoring the hijacked boat, now 320 kilometers off the archipelago's capital Mahe.
A pirate source said two ships were hijacked at the weekend.
"We hijacked two boats on Saturday night and Sunday in the Indian Ocean," pirate Hussein said. "One is an Iranian tourist boat with 21 crew, and the other is a Seychelles boat with six crew."
There was no confirmation that the Iranian boat had been seized.
Sea gangs have plagued the busy shipping lanes off Somalia for years. Some ships are held for ransom, others are used as "motherships" for transport.
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