Somali pirates seize three more vessels
KENYA: Somali pirates captured a freighter, a bulk carrier and a
chemical tanker in a few days, defying foreign warships in the Gulf of
Aden and ending the year with a flurry after collecting millions in
ransom.
The marauding sea bandits’ latest catch was the St James Park, a
UK-flagged chemical tanker with a crew of 26 from nine different
countries, Andrew Mwangura of the East Africa Seafarers Assistance
Programme said Tuesday.
He said the vessel, which was seized on Monday en route from Spain to
Thailand, had been commandeered near the northern Somali coast.
“It is expected to arrive there later this evening,” Mwangura told
AFP.
He said the vessel’s last port of call was Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and
that the crew included seamen from Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania,
Philippines, Poland, Georgia, India and Turkey.
Also on Monday, Somali pirates captured a Greek-owned bulk carrier
transporting fertiliser, Mwangura said.
The 52,000-tonne Navios Apollon was hijacked “en route from Tampa,
Florida to Rozy, India,” with a crew consisting of a Greek captain and
18 Filipinos.
The “Panama-flagged handymax bulk carrier, reported... that a number
of armed men had boarded the vessel from two speed boats,” operators
Navios Maritime Partners said in a statement.
NAIROBI, Wednesday, AFP |