Men believed to be pirates in a boat off the Somali coast
Sunday, August 21, 2011
India's Directorate General of Shipping said that the MV Fairchem Bogey, managed by Mumbai-based Anglo-Eastern Ship Management, was hijacked on Saturday while anchored in Salalah port, Reuters reported.
Somali pirates have expanded their range in recent months to target ships along the coast of Oman on the Arabian Peninsula.
The waters off the Indian Ocean coast of Somalia are considered the world's most dangerous for persistent piracy attempts in the area.
The Gulf of Aden, which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, is the quickest route for more than 20,000 vessels traveling from Asia to Europe and the Americas.
However, attacks by the heavily armed Somali pirates in speedboats have prompted some of the world's largest shipping firms to switch routes from the Suez Canal and send cargo vessels around southern Africa, causing a hike in shipping costs.
Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Strategically located in the Horn of Africa, Somalia remains one of the countries generating the highest number of refugees and internally displaced persons in the world.