Pirates seize Italian-flagged tugboat, 16 crew
KENYA: Pirates captured an Italian-flagged tugboat with 16
crew including 10 Italians on Saturday, in the latest hijacking in the
busy Gulf of Aden.
The tugboat, with enough fuel and food on board to last a month, was
believed to be heading toward the Somali coast, the head of the Italian
company that owns the boat told Reuters.
“I’ve entered into contact with the families (of the crew),” Claudio
Bartolotti, head of Ravenna-based Micoperi Srl, said, adding there were
also five Romanians and one Croatian on board.
Bartolotti denied reports the 75-metre-long tugboat was U.S.-owned,
saying his company had recently purchased it. NATO alliance officials on
a warship in the region had previously described the boat as U.S.-owned,
Italian-flagged.
Andrew Mwangura, of the Mombasa-based East African Seafarers’
Assistance Programme, said the tugboat’s crew were believed to be
unharmed.
He said the tugboat was towing two barges at the time of capture but
there were no details about their cargo.
“This incident shows the pirates are becoming more daring and
violent,” Mwangura told Reuters by phone.
NATO alliance officials on board the Portuguese warship NRP
Corte-Real, which is patrolling the Gulf of Aden, said a distress call
came from the MV Buccaneer tugboat but communications were lost six
minutes later.
International interest has focused this week on the plight of an
American hostage, Richard Phillips, held by four pirates on a lifeboat
flanked by U.S. naval warships in a high seas standoff since Wednesday.
Nairobi,Sunday, Reuters |