afrol News, 21 August - Pirates have seized two more vessels off Somali coast today, the fifth attack in less than a month, International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said.

Attacks on an Iranian bulk carrier and a Japanese-operated tanker, follows an armed hijacking of Malaysian palm oil tanker and more than 20 crew members in the Gulf of Eden off coast of Somalia yesterday.

According to head of the International Chamber of Commerce's Piracy Reporting Centre Noel Chong, pirates fired at a ship sailing under an Iranian flag and boarded it around 2:20 am local time, further saying a ship operating under a Japanese flag was also seized a few minutes later.

Waters off East African coast, are considered among the most dangerous in the world, with cargo ships and luxury yachts being targeted by heavily armed pirates demanding ransom. Pirates are also targeting ships carrying food aid.

Canada announced this month that it was dispatching a warship to the area to protect UN aid ships after more than two dozen reported pirate attacks in the region this year.

Malaysian authorties said it would work closely with countries in the region to end pirate attacks amicably.

The country said it will also coordinate with its embassies in Kenya and Yemen to recover vessel and the crew, foreign ministry said in a statement. Malaysian shipping firm MISC, which owns the tanker MT Bunga Melati Dua, said it had not made any contact with crew or hijackers so far.

It said the tanker, laden with 32,000 tonnes of crude palm oil bound for Rotterdam, was last sighted heading towards Somalia. There were Malaysians and Filipinos on board.

Mr Choong said ships have been urged to stay more than 200 nautical miles from Somali coast, where many of the attacks take place, connecting Red Sea and Indian Ocean, forming one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

International Maritime Bureau, which monitors shipping crime, said in April that 49 pirate attacks on ships were reported in the first three months of 2008, compared with 41 for the same period last year. It recorded 263 pirates attacks last year, up from 239 a year before and the first increase in three.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991 and foreign vessels are frequently seized for ransom by pirates armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and automatic weapons, making it difficult and expensive to deliver aid.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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