Wednesday, November 19, 2008
"What we have seen in these last few weeks is an abnormal increase in violence and ships being hijacked despite the increased security in the area," said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre.
"The situation is already out of control," he told AFP. "The United Nations and the international community must find ways to stop this menace."
"With no strong deterrent, low risk to the pirates and high returns, the attacks will continue," he added.
Choong said that in the latest incident, a Thai-operated fishing boat registered in Kiribati was seized off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday while en route to the Middle East.
"Two speed boats with five to six Somali pirates each came alongside the fishing boat and thereafter hijacked her," he added.
Choong said communications were cut while the ship was reporting the incident. The condition of the 16 crew on board the vessel is unknown.
Also on Tuesday a Hong Kong cargo ship operating out of Iran was hijacked in the same area, with 25 crew on board, the Kuala Lumpur-based IMB piracy centre confirmed.
The China Maritime Search and Rescue Centre said the freighter, The Delight, was carrying 36,000 tonnes of wheat to Bandar Abbas in Iran when attacked.
Choong said Saturday's unprecedented incident, when Somali pirates hijacked a Saudi super-tanker carrying 100 million dollars worth of oil, was worrying as this was the largest ship hijacked and the furthest from pirate bases so far.
The Sirius Star, the size of three soccer fields and three times the weight of a US aircraft carrier, was seized on Saturday in the Indian Ocean some 500 miles off the coast of Kenya.
"This is a new area of attack. It is a very worrying sign for them to go as far as 500 nautical miles, we are very concerned by the capability of these pirates now that they are going further away," Choong added.
The international community has increased patrols in the area, thwarting several hijack attempts by heavily armed Somali pirates, but the patrols are unable to prevent all attacks.
Since January the IMB said 94 ships have been attacked in the Gulf of Aden and Somalia. Of those, 38 were hijacked while 17 ships with more than 250 crew are still being held by pirates..
The operators of the hijacked Saudi super-tanker were waiting Wednesday for further contact from the Somali bandits.
The Sirius Star arrived off the coast of Somalia on Tuesday, according to an official from the Somalia's breakaway state of Puntland.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal slammed the attack.
"Obviously this is a very dangerous thing ... Piracy, like terrorism, is a disease," the prince said in Athens.
Bile Mohamoud Qabowsade, an advisor to the president of Somalia's breakaway state of Puntland, said the Sirius Star was now at the pirate lair of Harardhere, some 300 kilometres (180 miles) north of Mogadishu.
"We have been receiving some information and we now know that the ship is anchored near Harardhere," Qabowsade told AFP.
The super-tanker was loaded to capacity with two million barrels of oil when it was seized along with its crew of 25 -- 19 from the Philippines, two from Britain, two from Poland, one Croatian and one Saudi.
"All 25 crew members on board are believed to be safe," said Vela International, a subsidiary of Saudi oil giant Saudi Aramco and operators of the ship.
"At this time, Vela is awaiting further contact from the pirates in control of the vessel," the company said in a statement.
Source: AFP, Nov 19, 2008