A Hong Kong-flagged ship loaded with wheat bound for Iran was
hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, maritime officials
said, the latest raid in the Horn of Africa's perilous
waters.
The Delight, with 25 crew members on board, was captured off the
Yemen coast at around 0600 GMT and is currently sailing towards
Somalia, an official at Hong Kong's Maritime Rescue Co-ordination
Centre said.
"We know the ship is going to somewhere in Somalia," said the
official, who declined to be identified because he is not
authorised to speak to the media.
"We are in contact with the company security officer who is in
contact with the ship," he added, but said he did not know of any
ransom or other demands.
In Bahrain, a US Navy spokeswoman said the Hong Kong-registered
ship belonged to Iran's state shipping lines.
The raid came after a super tanker with a $100 million ($NZ180
million) cargo was seized by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean at
the weekend, mocking a rush by NATO and the European Union to
control piracy problems in one of the world's busiest shipping
routes.
Nearly two decades of conflict in Somalia have left it awash with
arms and without a strong central authority to enforce the rule of
law.
Guns and grenades
Using larger mother ships to increase their reach, the heavily
armed pirates usually pull up on either side of a target in
speedboats and board, firing guns or even rocket-propelled grenades
just over the bridge if the captain tries to escape.
Ship owners are negotiating ransoms in most cases, with crew
released unharmed.
But the heightened risk means insurance premiums are
rocketing.
And some carriers are now taking the long route around the southern
tip of Africa, rather than the Suez Canal, pushing up the cost of
commodities at a time of global uncertainty.
The Delight was the third ship sailing under a Hong Kong flag alone
to be seized in the area this autumn.
"We have now a total of two Hong Kong vessels held by Somali
pirates, and one has been released," the official at the Maritime
Rescue Centre said.
The crew members on the Delight are from Iran, Pakistan, Indian,
the Philippines and Guyana, the official said.
They were carrying 36,000 tonnes of wheat to Iran's Bandar Abbas
port.
The two previous targets were both chartered by chemical tanker
shipping group Stolt-Nielsen.
The Stolt Strength was captured this month, just days before the
release of the Stolt Valor which was raided in September.
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