A Taiwanese long-line fishing boat was hijacked by pirates off the Somali coast who demanded a ransom for the crew, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
The ship's Taiwanese owner lost contact with Tai Yuan 227 (泰源 227) two days ago as it headed for the Maldives.
When the owner resumed contact early yesterday via satellite phone with the vessel, which was sailing toward Somalia, the owner was asked by unknown persons on board the boat to pay a ransom, the ministry said.
“The boat has since changed direction to sail toward Somalia, so this may very well have been done by the Somali pirates,” the ministry said in a statement. “We hope that the many other boats sailing in the area stay alert and avoid the pirates from launching an attack at other boats from the Tai Yuan 227.”
The ministry said there were no Taiwanese crew members on the Kaohsiung-based Taiyuan 227, the third Taiwanese fishing boat to be hijacked or attacked near Somali waters in the last two months.
Ministry officials refused to provide contact information for the boat's owner, saying he wanted to remain anonymous until the crew was released.
Pirate attacks have continued to increase despite the presence of about 35 international warships patrolling the waters off the lawless Somali coast.
Pirates currently hold more than 300 hostages taken from ships attacked off East Africa in the last several months. Eleven suspected Somali pirates were indicted in a US federal court late last month, but the international community has had problems formulating a joint policy to try and jail suspected pirates.
Pirates boarded the Russian tanker Moscow University off the coast of Somalia on Wednesday. They were arrested on Thursday after special forces from a Russian warship stormed the tanker. A gun battle ensued in which one pirate was killed and 10 others were detained.
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