(Xinhua) -- A Greek ship with 25 crew members has been seized by armed pirates off the coast of Somalia in the latest attacks on the world's most dangerous waters, a regional maritime official said on Thursday.Andrew Mwangura, the coordinator of the East Africa Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP), said the vessel was sailing to Kenya when it was hijacked off the eastern coast of Somalia, the 13th such seizure by the pirates in the past two months. "We have been receiving reports about the Greek vessel since yesterday (Wednesday) but I have not confirmed the name of the vessel and the nationalities of the crew members," Mwangura told Xinhua by telephone.
Using increasingly sophisticated equipment, pirates have stepped up attacks on merchant vessels in the gulf, increasing insurance costs for ship owners and raising the possibility of military intervention.
| The IMB's Piracy Reporting Center described three large "motherships"- two Russian-made stern trawlers and a tugboat- that officials suspect are coordinating at least some of the recent attacks. |
The IMB's Piracy Reporting Center described three large "motherships"- two Russian-made stern trawlers and a tugboat- that officials suspect are coordinating at least some of the recent attacks.
A spate of hijackings by pirates off the coast of Somalia has triggered the deployment of a multi-coalition naval force to patrol the world's most dangerous waters. The U.S. Navy said Western coalition warships and aircraft said it will conduct patrols to boost security in the Gulf of Aden.
The Horn of Africa nation's 3,300-kilometer coastline is considered one of the world's most dangerous stretches of water because of piracy. Somalia is at the entrance to the Gulf of Aden, which leads to the Red Sea and the 166-kilometer Suez Canal, one of the world's most important shipping channels.