Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Somali Pirates Hijack Yemeni Cargo Ship

Via Swissinfo.ch -

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Somali pirates have hijacked a Yemeni ship loaded with steel, officials said on Tuesday, and one of Asia's biggest shippers said it was diverting vulnerable vessels away from the dangerous Gulf of Aden.

Scores of attacks this year have brought the pirates millions of dollars in ransoms, hiked up shipping insurance costs, sent foreign navies rushing to the area, and left about a dozen boats with more than 200 hostages still in pirate hands.

[...]

Yemen's official SABA news agency said the Yemeni ship MV Adina was travelling from Mukalla port to the southern island of Socotra and had been due to dock on November 20 with 507 tonnes of steel.

Yemeni security sources said the authorities were in touch with the pirates, who were demanding a $2 million ransom.

The sources said the vessel was owned by Yemeni shipping firm Abu Talal and was carrying seven crew -- three Somalis, two Yemenis and two Panamanians.

Taiwan shipping company TMT, meanwhile, said it is re-routing 20 oil tankers via the Cape of Good Hope. TMT's fleet is regularly employed to ferry crude oil supplies to consumers in Europe and the United States.

[...]

Following the hijack of an Iranian-chartered ship last week, a senior Iranian government official was quoted as saying Tehran could use force against the buccaneers if needed.

In neighbouring Kenya, the United States military's Africa Command said it was worried the pirates may forge ties with terrorist groups but that it had no evidence of links between the hijackers and al Qaeda.

Africom commander General William Ward told a news conference in Nairobi that the international community was looking "very seriously" at piracy.

Germany could send up to 1,400 soldiers to the Gulf of Aden as part of a European Union force due to start operation next month, government sources in Berlin said.

The piracy has been fuelled by civil strife onshore, where the western-backed government is fighting Islamist insurgents.


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There were 15 ships with nearly 300 crew still in the hands of Somali pirates, who dock the hijacked vessels near the eastern and southern coast as they negotiate for ransom. That does not include the Yemeni cargo vessel.

Ships currently in the hands of the pirates include the Ukrainian ship hijacked with 33 T-72 tanks on board (hijacked in Oct 2008) and the giant Sirius Star oil tanker (hijacked in Nov 2008).

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