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.
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