|
 The
UN is reporting that pirates hijacked a cargo ship delivering UN food
aid to northeastern Somalia today (Sunday)
The ship, mv ROZEN, had just delivered a total of 1,800 tons of food aid
in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in north eastern Somalia when
the pirates struck, said Stephanie Savariaud, a spokeswoman for the U.N.'s
World Food Program.
As yet it is unclear if any of the crew - there are 12: six Kenyans and
six Sri Lankans - have been injured
"We know it has been hijacked by pirates but we do not know how many
pirates there are," Savariaud said. "We are very concerned about the
safety of the crew."
After delivering two shipments of aid the ship was returning to her home
port of Mombasa in neighbouring Kenya. Not only was this same ship the
target of an attempted attack last March, this is the fourth time one of
the company's vessel's have been hijacked by pirates.
The mv TORGELOW, also operated by Motaku Shipping of Mombassa was the
target of Somali pirates in October 2005 when she was hijacked as she went
to the aid of her sister vessel the SEMLOW that had been seized by pirates
three months earlier. The SEMLOW had been carrying aid intended for
Somalia's tsunami victims and she and her crew were held captive for 100
days.
A week after TORGELOW's ordeal it was yet another fleet sister, the
MILTZOW that attracted the pirates and she was seized for two days before
being freed.
As Motaku Shipping only have four vessels, with mv ROZEN's capture today, it now means every one of their
ships has suffered at the hands of pirates in the last two years. |
