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.
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