A warship from an international naval force has been deployed to track three vessels and their 57 crew that were hijacked in an unprecedented spate of attacks by pirates off the coast of Somalia, an international maritime official said yesterday.
Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau also called on the UN 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 on 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 said.
The naval force includes the US, 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 9 crew, flying the Antigua and Barbuda flag, was hijacked, he said.
The attacks came two days after a Malaysian palm oil tanker with 39 crew was seized in the vicinity.
Choong said three hijackings in one day was unprecedented, adding 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 there has been no communication so far with any of the four vessels hijacked this week. Little can be done at this stage in view of the hostage safety, with pirates likely to demand ransom for the release of the ships and crew later, he said.
“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.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number