Warship tracks 3 ships, 57 crew seized off Somalia

[August 22, 2008]  KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- A warship from an international naval force has been deployed to track three vessels and their 57 crew members that were hijacked in an unprecedented spate of attacks by pirates off the coast of Somalia, a maritime official said Friday.

Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau also called on the United Nations to do more to bring rampant piracy under control off Africa's eastern coast.

Choong, who heads the IMB's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur, said the coalition naval force based in the region is monitoring the movement of the Iranian, Japanese and German vessels that were seized Thursday in the Gulf of Aden.

"All the three ships are still moving and appear to be heading toward Somali territorial water. A warship has been dispatched to monitor and track the vessels," he told The Associated Press.

The naval force includes the United States, France, Germany, Pakistan, Britain and Canada, which currently holds the rotating command. No other details were immediately available.

Pirates on Thursday seized an Iranian bulk carrier with 29 crew and a Japanese-operated chemical tanker with 19 crew within an hour in the Gulf of Aden, Choong said. Later in the day, a German-operated cargo ship with nine crew, flying the Antigua and Barbuda flag, was hijacked in the same area, he said.

The attacks came two days after a Malaysian palm oil tanker with 39 crew was seized in the vicinity.

Malaysian shipping line MISC Berhad, which owns the MT Bunga Melati Dua vessel, said it established its first communication with the ship on Thursday.

"MISC was informed that there has been a casualty onboard involving one of our Filipino crew members during the boarding of the vessel by the hijackers. We are unable to confirm this incident," the company said, adding that the rest of the crew were apparently safe. It offered no other details.

Choong said three hijackings in one day was unprecedented and that the brazen attacks have generated alarm among seafarers using the Gulf of Aden, a busy waterway connecting the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

He said little can be done at this stage of the hijackings in view of hostage safety, with pirates likely to demand ransom for the release of the ships and crew later.

"Somalia has no central government. We are worried that more may join the pirates to hijack ships because it's very lucrative and there is no deterrent," Choong said.

"The United Nations is the only agency that can stop this menace. The international community has to agree to find ways to solve this worsening problem. That is the only way forward," he said.

Somalia is the world's piracy hotspot, with 35 attacks including the latest hijackings, of which 29 occurred in the Gulf of Aden, he added.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991 and foreign vessels are frequently seized for ransom by pirates armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and automatic weapons, making it difficult and expensive to deliver aid to the impoverished region.

In June, the U.N. Security Council voted to allow international warships to enter Somali waters to combat the problem. But its 1,880-mile coastline -- the longest in Africa -- remains virtually unpoliced.

Founded in 1981, the International Maritime Bureau is an arm of the International Chamber of Commerce and keeps round-the-clock watch for piracy in the world's shipping lanes.

[Associated Press; By EILEEN NG]

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