Sana'a, Yemen - Somali pirates hijacked a Yemeni tanker ship
carrying more than 2,000 tonnes of diesel in the Arabian Sea on
Saturday, Yemen's Defence Ministry said.
The ship was en route from the Gulf of Aden to the south-eastern
port of Nashtoon when the pirates attacked it and diverted it to
the Somali coast, the ministry said in a brief statement posted on
its website.
'Yemeni authorities are conducting contacts to secure the release
of the hijacked ship,' it said.
No further details on the ship or its crew were immediately
available.
The hijack took place two days after Somali pirates released a
Yemeni fishing vessel they had held for more than two weeks. The ship
was hijacked along with another fishing vessel in the Gulf of Aden on
December 10.
The other ship was released on December 27, and Yemeni officials
said that no ransom was paid for the ship's release.
Brigadier General Ali Rasea'a, commander of Yemen's coastguard
force, said in remarks published Friday that the motive behind the
hijacking of the two vessels was not ransom.
'The pirates intended to use the ships as mother ships for their
attacks on merchant ships crossing the Gulf of Aden,' he said.
The Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest waterways, remains a
hotspot for pirate activities despite increased calls for joint
security patrols in the troubled waters. Nearly 20,000 ships pass
through the Gulf of Aden each year on their way to and from the Suez
Canal.
In 2008, 112 ships were reported to have been attacked by pirates
and 42 hijacked. A total of 14 of the hijacked vessels and more than
240 crew members are still being held by pirates.
Your Talkback on this Story