Pirates Hijack British-Owned Carrier in Indian Ocean
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By Sarah McGregor and Lars Paulsson
May 2 (Bloomberg) -- Pirates hijacked a British-owned bulk carrier in the Indian Ocean a day after NATO’s anti-piracy mission foiled an attack by a ship armed with explosives and assault rifles.
The MV Ariana, carrying soya, was taken about 250 miles (400 kilometers) southwest of the Seychelles Islands, North Atlantic Treaty Organization spokesman Commander Chris Davies said in a telephone interview. The vessel is flagged in Malta and has a Ukrainian crew, Davies, based in Northwood, England, said.
“They are after its cargo and whatever they can get for its hostages is a bonus,” Davies said. The Ariana “is in the vicinity where Somali pirates have operated in the past,” he added. The attack took place around 5:30 a.m. local Seychelles time today. The East Africa Seafarers’ Assistance Program confirmed that the bulk carrier had been boarded.
“As soon as the gunmen are on the ship, the warships can’t do anything but just wait and watch,” Andrew Mwangura, an official with the charity, said by phone from Kenya. Separately, a Portuguese naval frigate detained and later released a gang of 19 suspected Somali pirates following a failed hijacking on the MV Kition, a Norwegian oil tanker, in the Gulf of Aden yesterday. Portuguese naval officers on the Corte-Real, serving as part of NATO’s anti-piracy mission, found explosives, AK-47s and other weapons on board the pirate vessel, Mwangura said.
Demolish Ship
“We never before have seen high explosives in these hijackings,” Mwangura said. “It means you want to demolish that ship.” Pirate attacks worldwide almost doubled in the first quarter of 2009 to 102 compared with a year earlier, according to the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting center.
The most high-risk waters were in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia’s coast, where heavily armed pirates attacked more than 60 ships amid anti-piracy patrols by foreign navies, it said. The challenge of piracy on the high seas was underscored last month when the American captain of a U.S. flagged ship, Maersk Alabama, was captured by Somali hijackers. After spending five days held at sea in a covered lifeboat, Richard Phillips was freed in a daring rescue by U.S. navy snipers, who shot three of his captors and arrested a fourth. The U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London said it didn’t have any knowledge of the hijacking.
Share | Email | Print | A A A
By Sarah McGregor and Lars Paulsson
May 2 (Bloomberg) -- Pirates hijacked a British-owned bulk carrier in the Indian Ocean a day after NATO’s anti-piracy mission foiled an attack by a ship armed with explosives and assault rifles.
The MV Ariana, carrying soya, was taken about 250 miles (400 kilometers) southwest of the Seychelles Islands, North Atlantic Treaty Organization spokesman Commander Chris Davies said in a telephone interview. The vessel is flagged in Malta and has a Ukrainian crew, Davies, based in Northwood, England, said.
“They are after its cargo and whatever they can get for its hostages is a bonus,” Davies said. The Ariana “is in the vicinity where Somali pirates have operated in the past,” he added. The attack took place around 5:30 a.m. local Seychelles time today. The East Africa Seafarers’ Assistance Program confirmed that the bulk carrier had been boarded.
“As soon as the gunmen are on the ship, the warships can’t do anything but just wait and watch,” Andrew Mwangura, an official with the charity, said by phone from Kenya. Separately, a Portuguese naval frigate detained and later released a gang of 19 suspected Somali pirates following a failed hijacking on the MV Kition, a Norwegian oil tanker, in the Gulf of Aden yesterday. Portuguese naval officers on the Corte-Real, serving as part of NATO’s anti-piracy mission, found explosives, AK-47s and other weapons on board the pirate vessel, Mwangura said.
Demolish Ship
“We never before have seen high explosives in these hijackings,” Mwangura said. “It means you want to demolish that ship.” Pirate attacks worldwide almost doubled in the first quarter of 2009 to 102 compared with a year earlier, according to the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting center.
The most high-risk waters were in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia’s coast, where heavily armed pirates attacked more than 60 ships amid anti-piracy patrols by foreign navies, it said. The challenge of piracy on the high seas was underscored last month when the American captain of a U.S. flagged ship, Maersk Alabama, was captured by Somali hijackers. After spending five days held at sea in a covered lifeboat, Richard Phillips was freed in a daring rescue by U.S. navy snipers, who shot three of his captors and arrested a fourth. The U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London said it didn’t have any knowledge of the hijacking.
