Saturday, February 19, 2011
According to Ecoterra International, a non-governmental organisation monitoring maritime activity in the region, pirates hijacked the S/V Quest with four Americans onboard Friday in the Indian Ocean.
Abdi Yare, a top pirate commander in Hobyo, 500 kilometres (300 miles) northeast of the capital Mogadishu, said the boarding squad that captured the yacht left a week earlier from Harardhere, another pirate base further south.
"The pirate team that hijacked the yacht is led by a senior commander from the Harardhere area," he said.
"I think they will bring them (the hostages) here, near Hobyo, to negotiate the ransom," Yare added.
Harardhere, located around 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Hobyo is where modern Somali piracy originated in 2003-2004.
The town was conquered by the Shebab, an Al Qaeda-inspired insurgent group which is officially opposed to piracy but has recently appeared to tolerate pirate activity on its territory in exchange for a cut of the ransoms.
A dispute broke out in recent days between the Shebab and the main "investors" who finance pirate raids and hijackings in exchange for a stake in the ransoms.
As a result, most of the vessels that had recently been held off the shores of Harardhere have been transferred to Hobyo and another smaller town to the north called Labad.
Most of the 40-plus vessels currently held are cargo or fishing ships but when they capture yachts, the pirates tend to take the hostages to shore as their main bargaining chip is the crew's freedom rather than the ship's value.
Few Americans have been taken hostage by pirates since attacks in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean surged in 2007.
Abdi Yare said he had received few details on the identities of the S/V Quest's crew as it was still far out at sea, heading towards the Somali coast.
"But we have been told they are Americans.... This could be a big catch."
Source: AFP