Pirates strike again
May 2, 2009
The most recent incident took place in the early hours of Saturday morning, when the British-owned and Maltese-flagged bulk carrier Ariana was hijacked in a rare overnight attack northwest of the Seychelle Islands.
The crew members are all Ukrainian. Ship-owner Seven Seas Maritime has not given the exact number of people aboard.
NATO forced to release pirates
Just hours before, a Portuguese warship thwarted an attempt by heavily-armed pirates to take control of a Norwegian tanker off the coast of Somalia.
NATO officials said the Portuguese warship Corte-Real captured, disarmed and briefly detained 19 pirates after they attempted to attack the Norwegian-owned oil tanker Kition in the Gulf of Aden late on Friday.
However, after consultation with Somali officials on shore, the suspected pirates had to be released by the Portuguese, on the grounds that they had not attacked that country's property or citizens.
Lieutenant-Commander Alexandre Santos Fernandes said it was the first time NATO forces had found pirates armed with raw explosives. The explosives were destroyed, along with four automatic rifles and nine rocket-propelled grenades.
Germany abandons rescue mission
Meanwhile, it also emerged today that the German government has ordered the country's elite security service GSG9 to abandon plans to storm the German container ship Hansa Stavanger. The ship was captured by pirates off the coast of Somalia on April 4.
The planned mission to free the ship and its 24 crew members was considered by German officials to be too risky, according to reports in Saturday's editions of Der Spiegel and Focus magazines.
Pirate hostages return home
Also on Saturday the 23 crew members of a Phillipine tanker seized by Somali pirates have returned home after being held hostage for more than five months.
The pirates seized the chemical tanker Stolt Strength in the Gulf of Aden in November as it was heading to India with a cargo of phosphoric acid. The ship and crew were released on April 21 after a ransom of $2.5 million (1.88 million euros) was paid. About 80 other Filipinos in seven ships are still being held by Somali pirates.
In total nearly 100 ships have been attacked this year by pirates operating from the lawless Somali coastline.