afrol News - Greek ship hijacked off Somalia coast

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Somalia
Society | Politics | Human rights
Greek ship hijacked off Somalia coast

afrol News, 18 September - Pirates off Somalia's south coast have hijacked a Greek owned ship, ferrying salt cargo to Kenya today, and its crew of 25 was taken hostage.

Fate of 25 crew said to be of Filipino origin is still not known. Vessel was reportedly attacked about 200 nautical miles from Somali capital Mogadishu.

Head of Kuala Lumpur-based International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) piracy reporting centre, Noel Choong, said, "pirates attacked and boarded ship, en route to Kenya with a crew of 25 on board. It happened at 0250 GMT, it appears pirates are now targeting ships on eastern side of Somalia."

Mr Choong said that since January, 55 ships have been attacked off Somalia and in Gulf of Aden, and that 11 were currently being held for ransom.

He said ship was 13th to be seized off Somali waters in last two months, adding that this latest attack indicated that Somali pirates had expanded their area of operation southwards, targeting vessels off coast of Mogadishu.

Last year, pirates were reportedly operating on Somalia's east coast, but then shifted north, in Gulf of Aden, before again recently switching back to east.

Ship was expected to call at Mombassa tomorrow to discharge 17,000 tonnes of bulk salt, Andrew Mwangura of Kenya-based east African seafarers' association told media.

"It was taken in southern Somalia, which is unusual for pirates. They could be taking it to Eyl," Mr Mwangura said.

Several vessels are reportedly being held for ransom at Eyl. Earlier this week, French commandos rescued two sailors amid fears they were being led to a pirate stronghold at port.

Somali waters are considered most dangerous in world for pirate attacks.

Maritime experts say many attacks go unreported along Somalia's 3,700 kilometres of coast, which is infested by pirates who operate high-powered speedboats and carry heavy machine guns and rocket launchers.

Somalia has been without a functioning central government for 17 years and has suffered from continual civil strife.

Battles between Islamist insurgents and Ethiopian-backed government soldiers have forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes in past 18 months.