Pirates seize more ships off Somalia (Roundup)

Nairobi/Berlin - Somali pirates on Monday seized a British-owned cargo ship and a Taiwanese vessel, adding to three ships hijacked over the weekend, Kenya-based piracy monitor Ecoterra said. The 32,000-ton Malaspina Castle was boarded during the morning in the Gulf of Aden, according to the EU Maritime Component Command Headquarters in Northwood near London Kenyan maritime officials said the Italian-operated ship, which was carrying iron ore, was flying a Panama flag and had a crew of 24 from Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine and Philippines. The unnamed Taiwanese ship and its crew of 29 was reportedly captured near the Seychelles. The two ships join a French yacht, a Yemeni tugboat and a German container ship seized over the weekend. Ecoterra said the French yacht was being sailed to the coast of the semi-autonomous Somali region Puntland. Germany was attempting Monday to obtain the release of the container ship. Germany's Foreign Ministry set up a crisis team to deal with the seizure of the 20,000-ton Hansa Stavanger, owned by a shipping company in Hamburg. The ship, capable of carrying up to 1,550 containers, was seized on Sunday some 400 nautical miles (about 750 kilometres) off the southern Somali port of Kismayo, between the Seychelles and Kenya. Several Germans were reported to be among the 25-member crew. Germany's Neue Ruhr Zeitung, quoted the commander of the European Union's Atalanta naval operation in the region, Commodore Antonios Papaioannou, as saying there were five pirates on board. A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman in Berlin said a task force of officials was trying to obtain more information and gain the ship's release. Several German vessels have been captured on the coast and only freed after ransom payments. A week ago, German Navy units in the area thwarted an attempted pirate attack on a navy oiler, the Spessart, in the Gulf of Aden and detained seven would-be pirates. Piracy has started to pick up again off Somalia in recent weeks following a lull of several months. The presence of international warships has helped deter attacks and force pirates to move further out to sea in search of prey. Pirates in 2008 seized dozens of ships and earned tens of millions of dollars in ransom, prompting the international community to send in the warships.