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Undeterred by world's navies, pirates seize another 4 vessels
Source: Agencies |
April 15, 2009, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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FOLLOWING American and French hostage rescues that killed five bandits, Somali pirates have brazenly hijacked four more ships in the Gulf of Aden, the waterway at the center of the world's fight against piracy.
Pirates have vowed to retaliate for deaths of their colleagues, and the top US military officer said yesterday that he takes those comments seriously. But Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told ABC's "Good Morning America" that, "We're very well prepared to deal with anything like that."
Still, despite Mullen's confident statement and President Barack Obama's warning on Monday, pirates captured two more nautical trophies yesterday to match the two ships they seized a day or two earlier.
NATO spokeswoman Shona Lowe said the MV Sea Horse, a Lebanese-owned cargo ship, was attacked and captured yesterday by pirates in three or four speedboats. She had no further information.
That hijacking came only hours after the Greek-managed MV Irene E.M. was seized in a rare overnight attack.
In addition, Somali pirates hijacked two Egyptian fishing boats in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia's northern coast, which maritime officials said had a total of 36 crew. It was not exactly clear if those ships were hijacked on Monday or Sunday.
The Gulf of Aden, which links the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, is one of the world's busiest and most vital shipping lanes, crossed by more than 20,000 ships each year.
Warships on patrol
A flotilla of warships from nearly a dozen countries has patrolled the Gulf of Aden and nearby Indian Ocean waters for months. They have halted many attacks on ships this year but say the area is so vast they can't stop all hijackings.
Choong said pirate attacks this year had risen to 78, with 19 of those ships hijacked and 17 vessels with over 300 crew still in pirates' hands. Each boat carries the potential of a million-dollar ransom.
The Irene was sailing from the Middle East to South Asia, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur. The ship is flagged in the Caribbean island nation of S. Vincent and the Grenadines.
A maritime security contractor, speaking on condition of anonymity because it is a sensitive security issue, said the Irene put out a distress signal "to say they had a suspicious vessel approaching. That rapidly turned into an attack and then a hijacking."
"They tried to call in support on the emergency channels, but they never got any response," the contractor said.
The latest seizures come after Navy SEAL snipers rescued American ship captain Richard Phillips on Sunday by killing three young pirates who held him captive in a drifting lifeboat for five days. A fourth pirate surrendered after seeking medical attention for a wound he received in trying to take over Phillips' vessel, the Maersk Alabama.
Obama appeared to move the piracy issue higher on his agenda, vowing the United States would work with nations around the world to fight the problem.
Pirates have vowed to retaliate for deaths of their colleagues, and the top US military officer said yesterday that he takes those comments seriously. But Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told ABC's "Good Morning America" that, "We're very well prepared to deal with anything like that."
Still, despite Mullen's confident statement and President Barack Obama's warning on Monday, pirates captured two more nautical trophies yesterday to match the two ships they seized a day or two earlier.
NATO spokeswoman Shona Lowe said the MV Sea Horse, a Lebanese-owned cargo ship, was attacked and captured yesterday by pirates in three or four speedboats. She had no further information.
That hijacking came only hours after the Greek-managed MV Irene E.M. was seized in a rare overnight attack.
In addition, Somali pirates hijacked two Egyptian fishing boats in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia's northern coast, which maritime officials said had a total of 36 crew. It was not exactly clear if those ships were hijacked on Monday or Sunday.
The Gulf of Aden, which links the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, is one of the world's busiest and most vital shipping lanes, crossed by more than 20,000 ships each year.
Warships on patrol
A flotilla of warships from nearly a dozen countries has patrolled the Gulf of Aden and nearby Indian Ocean waters for months. They have halted many attacks on ships this year but say the area is so vast they can't stop all hijackings.
Choong said pirate attacks this year had risen to 78, with 19 of those ships hijacked and 17 vessels with over 300 crew still in pirates' hands. Each boat carries the potential of a million-dollar ransom.
The Irene was sailing from the Middle East to South Asia, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur. The ship is flagged in the Caribbean island nation of S. Vincent and the Grenadines.
A maritime security contractor, speaking on condition of anonymity because it is a sensitive security issue, said the Irene put out a distress signal "to say they had a suspicious vessel approaching. That rapidly turned into an attack and then a hijacking."
"They tried to call in support on the emergency channels, but they never got any response," the contractor said.
The latest seizures come after Navy SEAL snipers rescued American ship captain Richard Phillips on Sunday by killing three young pirates who held him captive in a drifting lifeboat for five days. A fourth pirate surrendered after seeking medical attention for a wound he received in trying to take over Phillips' vessel, the Maersk Alabama.
Obama appeared to move the piracy issue higher on his agenda, vowing the United States would work with nations around the world to fight the problem.
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