Somali pirates attack Greek vessel in Gulf of Aden

Another Greek chemical tanker with 19 crew on board has been hijacked by armed pirates in the Gulf of Aden, a maritime watchdog reported yesterday.

Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur, said the tanker was hijacked on Friday while it was on its way to the Middle East from Europe. "Somali pirates fired with machine guns and boarded the ship in the Gulf of Aden," said Choong.

Last weekend another Greek-owned ship with 19 sailors on board, most of them Filipinos, was seized while a Malta-flagged Iranian oil tanker – a massive vessel the size of a football pitch – had a narrow escape after being pursued by pirates armed with grenades.

On September 18, the Greek ship Centauri, with 25 Filipino sailors on board was attacked off Somalia by pirates in a speed boat, armed with three rocket launchers.

Somali pirates, who are now holding a record 15 ships hostage, including Friday's hijacked tanker, are attacking further out to sea and on two fronts to evade international security, Choong had said.

"Despite the increase in security patrols by the coalition forces in the Gulf of Aden, we are still receiving reports of attacks and hijacks," Choong said. Since January Somali pirates have attacked 62 ships, with more than 300 crew held hostage on board the 15 ships under the pirates' control, he said.

A Russian warship was headed for the seas off Somalia yesterday after pirates seized a Ukrainian freighter carrying 33 tanks, munitions and other weaponry to Kenya, officials said. Somali pirates demanded a $35 million (Dh128m) ransom for the Ukrainian ship, a maritime official said. "The gunmen are demanding $35m to release the MV Faina and her crew," said Andrew Mwangura of the Mombasa-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme

The waters off Somalia – which has not had an effective government for about 17 years – are considered to be among the most dangerous in the world.

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