Somali pirates hijack Yemeni cargo ship
25/11/2008 16:53
Somali pirates have hijacked a Yemeni cargo ship in the pirate-infested
Gulf of Aden, a regional maritime official said today.
Andrew Mwangura, the
East Africa Coordinator of the Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP), however, did
not say when the MV Amani was captured and crew members aboard.
"A Yemeni
cargo ship MV Amani has been hijacked by sea pirates in the Gulf of Aden,"
Mwangura told Xinhua without divulging more details.
The Somali pirates have
caused mayhem this year in the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest shipping
lanes.
The hijacked ships included a Saudi Arabian supertanker loaded with
US$100 million worth of oil, the biggest hijacking in history.
The tanker,
the Sirius Star, belongs to Saudi Arabia's state-owned Vela International and is
carrying 2 million barrels of oil. It was hijacked Nov. 15, about 833 kilometers
off Somalia, along with 25 crewmembers from Britain, Poland, Croatia and Saudi
Arabia.
There are currently 15 warships in the region, including four NATO
vessels, and ships from India, Malaysia and Russia.
The navies of India,
Russia, Britain and Germany have all battled pirate vessels in the last 14 days
alone.
Xinhua
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