Pirates hijack vessels heading to UAE

Somali pirates have hijacked several dhows heading to the UAE with several dozens of sailors on board in a span of three to four days.

While some reports put the number of hijacked dhows to eight, with up to 120 sailors, a senior official of Seafarers Assistance Programme yesterday told Emirates Business that he has received confirmed information about the hijacking of four to five dhows.

Speaking over telephone from Mombasa, Andrew Mwangura, Co-ordinator of the East Africa Seafarers Assistance Programme, said he was not sure about the cargo that the dhows were carrying. "But usually it is charcoal that they carry from Somalia and so I presume it could be the same."

"I have been informed about the hijacking of about four to five vessels. The incident did not occur on a single day but over a span of four to five days. I have also been told that there were about 50 to 80 men who have been held hostage by the pirates. We are trying to establish contact with their families," he said.

He said the identity of the owners of the dhows is yet to be established. "All the vessels were travelling to Dubai," he added.

Meanwhile, Indian Navy spokesman PVS Satish yesterday said the navy was checking reports that eight dhows with Indians aboard have been missing since Sunday.

Satish said the Indian Navy had learned of the hijackings on Monday after the captain of a recently released fishing boat, the MV Arzoo, told the authorities that several other boats had been seized by pirates.

"This information was received as a report from MV Arzoo, which was commandeered by some pirates," Satish told AFP.

The MV Arzoo was seized between March 18 and 20 before being released near the Seychelles.

"They had anchored last in the rebel territory of Kismayo in Somalia where they loaded cargo into their boats. But moments after leaving the port, pirates captured them," said another report.

Somali pirates, targeting one of the world's busiest maritime trade routes, raked in an estimated $60 million in ransoms last year.

Meanwhile, Pirates seized MV Iceberg 1 with 24 crew members off the port of Aden on Monday and Mogadishu traders said seven additional vessels headed for the Somali capital had been hijacked over the past three days, said a Reuters report.

PIRACY FACTS

- Somali pirates were held responsible for 217 incidents of piracy in 2009, in which 47 vessels were hijacked and 867 crew members taken hostage

-  In 2008, 111 vessels were targeted by Somali pirates resulting in 42 hijackings. Although the number of 2009 incidents has almost doubled, the number of successful hijackings is proportionately less.

-  Nearly 20,000 ships pass through the Gulf of Aden in a year

 Major hijacks by pirates

- ASIAN GLORY: Seized on January 1, 2010. The British-flagged vehicle carrier was hijacked in the north of the Seychelles with 25 crew on board.

- RIM: Seized on February 2, 2010. The 4,800-dwt Libyan-owned cargo ship was seized in the strategic channel south of Yemen. It said it was flying a North Korean flag, but was owned by White Sea Shipping of Tripoli. It carried 10 crew, all Syrian.

- AL NISR AL SAUDI: Seized on March 1, 2010. The Saudi-owned 5,136-dwt tanker was on its way from Japan to Jeddah with one Greek and 13 Sri Lankan crew members.

- UBT OCEAN: Seized on March 5, 2010. Pirates hijacked the Marshall-Islands-registered tanker off Madagascar. It was carrying fuel oil from the UAE?to Tanzania and had a crew of 21. The 9,000-dwt tanker is owned by Norwegian company Brovigtank.

- SAKOBA: Seized on March 2010. The Spanish-owned fishing vessel carried Kenyans, one Spaniard, one Pole, one Cape Verdean, a Namibian and two Senegalese.

- FRIGIA: Seized on March 23. The 35,244-dwt ship was Maltese flagged and was hijacked off the Indian coast and carried a crew of 21 – 19 Turks and two Ukrainians.

- MV TALCA: Seized on March 23. The Bermuda-flagged reefer was on its way to Iran from Egypt with a crew of 23 Sri Lankans, one Filipino and one Syrian, and was seized in the Gulf of Aden.

- GALATE: Seized on March 28. Somali pirates also seized a Seychelles fishing boat and its six crew off the island of Mahe. There were six crew on board, all Seychellois.

- MV ICEBERG 1: Seized on March 29. Pirates boarded the roll-on roll-off vessel outside Aden Port in the Gulf of Aden. The ship carried 24 crew members.

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