From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Apr 14 2009 - 07:47:22 EDT
Somali pirates hijack Greek-owned ship
Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:00am GMT
* Gunmen launch night attack on Greek bulk carrier
* Maritime group says 22 Filipino crew unharmed
* Canadian warship sends helicopter to scene
(Adds details, analyst, background)
By Alison Bevege
ON BOARD NRP CORTE-REAL, April 14 (Reuters) - Somali pirates hijacked a
Greek-owned ship on Tuesday in a rare night attack that showed their
determination to continue striking shipping in the area's strategic
waterways.
The brazen capture of the MV Irene E.M. was a clear sign the sea gangs had
not been deterred by two raids in recent days by U.S. and French special
forces that killed five pirates.
NATO Lieutenant Commander Alexandre Fernandes said the Portuguese warship
NRP Corte-Real had received a distress call from the St. Vincent and the
Grenadines-flagged bulk carrier as it travelled through the Gulf of Aden.
"There was only three minutes between the alarm and the hijack," Fernandes
told Reuters aboard the warship.
"They attacked at night, which was very unusual. They were using the
moonlight as it's still quite bright."
The Greek merchant marine ministry said the Irene E.M.'s 22 crew members
were all Filipinos. The vessel was sailing from Jordan to India when it was
attacked. Its Piraeus-based owners were not immediately available for
comment.
Heavily armed gunmen from lawless Somalia have run amok through the busy
Indian Ocean shipping lanes and strategic Gulf of Aden, capturing dozens of
vessels, hundreds of hostages and making off with millions of dollars in
ransoms.
Until there is political stability onshore, experts warn, attacks on
shipping will continue off its coast.
"Piracy is far more complex than any naval patrol," said U.S. analyst J.
Peter Pham, of Madison University. "It will require more than just the
application of force to uproot piracy from the soil of Somalia."
SPECIAL FORCES
NATO officials said a Canadian warship had sent a helicopter to scout out
what was happening on the Irene E.M.
"There are hostages so now we will shadow and monitor the situation,"
Fernandes said.
Foreign navies are patrolling the seas off Somalia. But the pirates have
continued to evade capture, driving up insurance costs and defying the
world's most powerful militaries.
U.S. Navy snipers on a U.S. destroyer freed an American ship captain on
Sunday by killing three Somali pirates holding him hostage in a lifeboat,
ending a five-day standoff. Two more pirates died on Friday when French
commandos stormed a yacht that had been seized. A French hostage was also
killed.
Some fear the bloody assaults by Washington and Paris to free their hostages
may raise the risk of future bloodshed. The pirates have vowed to take
revenge on U.S. and French citizens.
So far, the sea gangs have generally treated captives well in the hope of
fetching big ransom payouts. Piracy is lucrative in chaotic Somalia, where
the brigands armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade
launchers have thrived.
Many poor and unemployed young Somalis see the gangs as a dazzling
alternative to their hard lives, given the quick money to be made. Most of
the groups are based in villages and small towns along Somalia's long coast
like Eyl, Hobyo and Haradheere.
Last year, the gunmen grabbed headlines with the world's largest sea hijack
-- a Saudi Arabian supertanker carrying $100 million of crude oil -- and the
seizure of a Ukrainian ship with a huge military cargo including 33
Soviet-era tanks.
But out of the international limelight, they have been striking regularly
for years. They still hold about 260 other hostages, including nearly 100
Filipinos, on 17 captured ships.
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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