Pirates hijack Iranian ship
Washington, 21 August (IranVNC)—Armed pirates hijacked an Iranian, a Japanese and a German vessel off the coast of Somalia today, bringing the number of ships attacked in the Gulf of Aden to six in the past month, an official maritime crime bureau reports, according to AP.
By: IranVNC
Published: Thursday, August 21, 2008
15:22 GMT—11:22 AM/EST
PIRATES – IRAN – SHIPS – HIJACKING
Washington, 21 August (IranVNC)—Armed pirates hijacked an Iranian, a Japanese and a German vessel off the coast of Somalia today, bringing the number of ships attacked in the Gulf of Aden to six in the past month, an official maritime crime bureau reports, according to AP.
Noel Choong, the head of the International Maritime Bureau’s [IMB] Piracy Reporting Centre, based in Kuala Lumpur, issued the report of the Iranian and Japanese tankers being hijacked while sailing through the gulf between 10am and 11am. Later in the day, reports emerged that a German cargo-ship was also seized in the vicinity.
“We have notified the US-led coalition naval forces but we are unable to release the names of the vessels or give further details of the vessels as it’s still an ongoing operation,” said Choong, AFP reports.
Choong said that three hijackings in one day “is unheard of”, and that the situation in the pirate-infested waters off the Somali coast in increasingly dangerous as the gulf is an important shipping route.
“We strongly urge the U.N. and the international community to take serious action to stop this menace,” he said. “If nothing is done more ships will be hijacked and there will be serious consequences on this important shipping route,” added Choong, AP reports.
The IMB official said there had been no communication with the hijacked vessels since Tuesday.
Sources: Associated Press, Agence France-Presse
© IranVNC 2008. All rights reserved.