Somali pirates hijack fourth vessel in a week

(CNN) -- Pirates off Somalia have hijacked two more vessels in the Gulf of Aden, the European Union naval force said Saturday -- the third and fourth vessels they have captured this week.

The British-flagged Asian Glory was seized off Somalia late Friday, the naval force said. The nationality of the pirates was unclear, because the hijacking happened outside of the force's operations area, it said.

The British Foreign Office would not confirm the hijacking, but said no British nationals were aboard.
Also Friday, Somali pirates seized the Singaporean-flagged chemical tanker M/V Pramoni, also in the Gulf of Aden, the naval force said. The 20,000-ton chemical tanker was carrying a crew of 24 and was heading to Kandla, India, when attacked, the naval force said.
The crew consists of 17 Indonesians, five Chinese, one Nigerian and one Vietnamese, the naval force said. The ship's master reported all the crew were well after the hijacking, the naval force said.
The ship was heading toward Somalia after the hijacking, the naval force said.

The Asian Glory is owned by London-based Zodiac Maritime Agencies, according to Lloyd's Register of Ships. Zodiac also owns another vessel that was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden, the British-flagged chemical tanker St. James Park, according to the company's Web site.
The St. James Park has a crew of 26, consisting of Bulgarians, Filipinos, Georgians, Indians, Poles, Romanians, Russians, Turks and Ukrainians, the EU naval force said.
The vessel had arrived at the Somali port of Hobyo, a pirate stronghold, the naval force said Saturday.
Monday, pirates also hijacked the Greek-owned carrier Navios Apollon, the naval force said.

It had been heading for Thailand, but was on its way to the Somali coast after the hijacking, it said.

CNN's Per Nyberg in London, England, contributed to this report.

Somali Pirates Hijack Ship; 17 Indonesians On Board

Anita Rachman & Ismira Lutfia

The Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Sunday that efforts were under way to secure the release of 17 Indonesian sailors being held aboard a ship hijacked by Somali pirates.

Teuku Faizasyah, a ministry spokesman, told the Jakarta Globe that Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa had instructed the Indonesian ambassador in Nairobi to gather the latest information on the Norwegian ship, which was hijacked on Friday.

“We can confirm that there are 17 Indonesian sailors on board the ship, which was hijacked on January 1,” Teuku said.

He added that the ministry was closely monitoring the situation.

Teuku said the Singaporean-flagged ship, the Pramoni, was a Norwegian chemical tanker leased by an Indonesian company.

The ship was seized in the Gulf of Aden while en route to India, marking the first attack by Somali pirates this year.

Also among the 20,000 deadweight-ton vessel’s 24-man crew are five Chinese nationals, a Nigerian and a Vietnamese.

Teuku said the ministry was working on the situation and was contacting the sailors’ families.

“We have all the information from our embassy in Singapore and we have managed to track down the data of those who are on board,” he said. “We are establishing contacts with informal groups in Somalia and we have seen some indication that the ship’s owner is willing to negotiate, but this is very preliminary.”



Additional reporting from Agence France-Presse

Somali pirates hijack UK-flagged ship: Bulgaria

SOFIA (Reuters) - Somali pirates hijacked a British-flagged vehicle carrier off the Somali coast late on Friday, the Bulgarian foreign ministry said.

The Asian Glory was seized about 600 miles east of the Somali coast before it joined a convoy heading for the Gulf of Aden, ministry spokesman Dragovest Goranov said.
Somali pirates have made tens of millions of dollars from seizing ships for ransom in the Gulf of Aden, linking Europe to Asia, and are also hunting far into the Indian Ocean to evade foreign navies sent to protect commercial shipping.
The European Union's counter-piracy force, EU Navfor and the British Foreign Office confirmed that the British-flagged Asian Glory had been seized by pirates in the Indian Ocean on Friday.
Navfor spokesman Commander John Harbour said the ship was well outside Navfor's area of operation when seized.
It has 25 crew members -- eight Bulgarian, 10 Ukrainian, five Indian, two Romanian, he said.
Harbour said the ship had been seized by pirates but he could not confirm they were Somalis. He did not know where the ship was heading.
An official at the Bulgarian office of the British company Zodiac, which manages the 45,000 tonne ship, said it was traveling from Singapore to Saudi Arabia.
"One of the sailors managed to call the British management company and say the ship was hijacked, but that the crew were in good health and were not injured," Prodan Radanov said.
On Wednesday, Somali pirates hijacked a Singapore-flagged chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden.
Another British-flagged ship, the chemical tanker St James Park, which was seized on Monday in the Gulf of Aden, had arrived off the pirate stronghold of Hobyo, Harbour said.
The ship has a crew of 26, including three from the Philippines, three Russians, one Georgian, two Romanians, five Bulgarians, two Ukrainians, one Polish, six Indians and three Turks.
On Dec 28, another cargo ship were also seized, underlining the risk to shipping on some of the world's busiest maritime trade routes. The pirates hold more than 10 vessels.
(Reporting by Tsvetelia Ilieva in Sofia and Adrian Croft in London; Editing by Angus MacSwan)