Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Andrew Mwangura, East Africa Coordinator of Seafarers' Assistance Program (SAP) said the MV Victoria with 11 Romanian crew members aboard was seized in the pirate-infested waters on Tuesday.
"The ship was hijacked by Somali pirates on Tuesday as it was sailing bound for Jeddah. The crew members are unhurt but I have not established where the ship was sailing from," Mwangura told Xinhua by telephone from Mombasa.
The Antigua and Barbuda-flagged cargo ship is carrying 10,000 metric tons of rice and was bound for Jeddah. Maritime officials said the vessel was seized late Tuesday in an area 120 kilometers south of Yemen.
The vessel, which is managed by a company in Germany, had been registered with the European Union anti-piracy flotilla operating in the region and was navigating in the recommended East-West corridor of the Gulf at the time of the hijacking.
Somali pirates have over the past year hijacked dozens of ships and over 250 hostages, taken millions of dollars in ransom payment.
Insecurity within the Somali waters have pushed up insurance premiums and resulted in high freight costs.
Shipping companies last year handed over about 80 million dollars in ransom payments to Somali pirates.
The Horn of Africa nation has been without an effective government since 1991, fuelling the lawlessness which has allowed the pirates to thrive.
Efforts to stop the raiders have so far had only limited success, with international naval patrols struggling to cover the vast areas of ocean where the gangs operate.