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Pirates have seized another vessel, a German cargo ship, off the
coast of Somalia in some of the world's most dangerous waters, the
International Maritime Bureau said.
This brought the number of ship hijackings in the vital sealane
linking Asia and Europe to a record four in 48 hours, sparking
fears piracy there could worsen.
"There is no deterrent, so obviously for pirates, criminals and
warlords, it's an easy way to make money," said Noel Choong, head
of the bureau's piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur.
"Nobody is going to catch you, no police ... you make so much
money," he said. "It's unbelievable, more and more of these people
go out and hijack ships."
He said only the United Nations could help stop the menace because
Somalia has no central government.
Piracy is rife off Somalia, which has been mired in anarchy since
warlords overthrew a dictator in 1991.
Maritime officials say at least 30 ships have been hijacked off
the coast of the Horn of Africa nation so far this year.
Lavish lifestyle
Most of them brought ransoms of at least $10,000 ($NZ14,005), and
in some cases much more. A lot of that money is now in the hands of
pirates in the semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland.
Wealthy pirates have attained near-celebrity status in the area,
buying expensive homes and cars and taking additional wives
following this year's sharp increase in attacks at sea.
In the latest case, pirates seized a German cargo ship with nine
crew on board late on Thursday, Choong said.
Just hours earlier, Somali pirates hijacked an Iranian bulk carrier
and a Japanese-operated tanker. A day before, they seized a palm
oil tanker, Bunga Melati Dua, belonging to Malaysian national
carrier MISC .
The four ships had a total of 96 crew on board.
Last week, Somali pirates hijacked two other ships, a Thai cargo
ship, the MV Thor Star, and a Nigerian tug boat, the MT Yenegoa
Ocean.
Local gunmen are also holding a Japanese-managed bulk carrier, the
MV Stella Maris, that was hijacked on July 20.
Choong said multi-national naval coalition forces had sent a
warship to track the hijackers.
Naval forces from the United States, France, Germany, Pakistan,
Britain and Canada are operating in the Gulf region.
MISC, the Malaysian shipping firm, said it had made first contact
with its ship, which had 39 crew - 29 Malaysians and 10 Filipinos -
on board.
"MISC was informed that there had been a casualty on board
involving one of our Filipino crew members during the boarding of
the vessel by the hijackers. We are unable to confirm this
incident," it said. The company declined to comment.