Somali pirates seize ship off Tanzania

Posted on Dec 12 2010 - 11:27am by News Desk
Tweet
Pin It

_50090030_2pirate103772823Bartamaha  ( Somalia):- “The merchant vessel Panama, operated by a US company, was en route from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to Beira in Mozambique when the attack occurred on Friday afternoon,” the EU mission said in a statement on Saturday.

At least five pirates, using two skiffs and a rocket-propelled grenade, boarded the ship. The attack happened about 80 nautical miles east of the Tanzanian-Mozambique border, according to the statement.

The Gulf of Aden, which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, is the quickest route for more than 20,000 vessels traveling from Asia to Europe and the Americas.

However, attacks by the Somali pirates have prompted some of the world’s largest shipping firms to switch routes from the Suez Canal and send cargo vessels around southern Africa, causing a hike in shipping costs.

In November, a UN report said that Somali pirates had increased the number of successful hijackings in 2010, becoming more violent and expanding their attack zone.

The pirates managed to stage 37 successful hijackings in the first 10 months of 2010, up from 33 in the same period of 2009, the UN report said.

Somalia, located in the strategic horn of Africa, does not have a functional government, and the Transitional Federal Government does not have much control beyond the capital city, Mogadishu.

===========================

Source: Press TV