Somali pirates hijack Norwegian tanker
March 6th, 2010 - 11:36 pm ICT by IANSLondon/Nairobi, March 6 (DPA) Somali pirates have hijacked a Norwegian-owned chemical tanker with a crew of 21, European Union naval forces said Saturday.
EU NAVFOR Somalia, the EU’s anti-piracy mission in the region, said the UBT Ocean, whose crew are all from Myanmar, was on its way from the United Arab Emirates to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, when
contact was lost Friday morning.
The latest attack comes amidst a spike in pirate activity, prompted by currently calm seas in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden.
Saudi tanker al-Nisr al-Saudi and its crew of 14 was hijacked Monday.
Private security guards aboard a Spanish ship repelled a pirate attack Thursday, then French warship FS Nivose arrested 22 suspected pirates Friday after another failed hijack attempt.
Somalia has not had a functioning central government since 1991, and piracy is rife off the Horn of Africa nation.
Young men take to the seas in search of multimillion-dollar ransoms despite the presence of international warships, which were dispatched to the Gulf of Aden in 2008 to combat a rise in piracy.
Attacks are expected to continue to rise in the coming months due to calmer weather.
- Somali pirates hijack Saudi tanker - Mar 04, 2010
- EU NAVFOR disrupts Somali pirate attack - Nov 17, 2010
- Somali pirates hijack three Thai ships, 77 crew - Apr 20, 2010
- Bahamas-flagged merchant vessel escapes pirate attack - Nov 17, 2010
- 3 rescued sailors return home - Mar 16, 2011
- Somali pirates seize tanker with 28 North Korean crew - Nov 17, 2009
- Somali pirates seize Thai vessel - Oct 29, 2009
- Somali pirates hijack two more ships, release third: source - Dec 29, 2009
- Somali pirates seize ship with 12 crew - Sep 25, 2010
- Italian ship with six Indians onboard hijacked - Oct 11, 2011
- NATO warship seizes 'pirate mother ship' off Somalia - Feb 13, 2011
- India tweaks navy's anti-piracy rules of engagement (Lead) - Mar 11, 2011
- Iranian Navy rescues supertanker from Somali pirates - Apr 23, 2010
- Somali pirates hijack two more ships: source - Dec 29, 2009
- Indian cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates off Oman - Jan 12, 2011
Tags: anti piracy, calm seas, central government, chemical tanker, dpa, es salaam tanzania, french warship, friday morning, gulf of aden, hijack, horn of africa, multimillion dollar, nairobi, pirate attack, private security guards, somali pirates, spanish ship, spike, united arab emirates, warships