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| Africa Horn | |
| Somali pirates hijack Malaysian tanker | |
| 2008-08-31 | |
| Heavily armed Somali pirates have seized another Malaysian tanker in the latest such attack in the waters off the Horn of Africa country, a maritime official said on Saturday. "We believe it's a Malaysian bulk carrier and it was hijacked last night," Andrew Mwangura, head of the Kenya-based East Africa Seafarers' Assistance Programme, told Reuters. In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian national carrier MISC said its ship was the hijacked vessel. The tanker, Bunga Melati 5, was carrying 30,000 tonnes of petrochemicals and heading towards Singapore from Yanbu in Saudi Arabia. It had 36 Malaysians and five Filipinos on board when it was hijacked in international waters off the coast of Yemen. "MT Bunga Melati 5 was sailing within the vicinity of the designated security corridor. The vessel attempted evasive manoeuvring before being overpowered by the hijackers," it said. "The coalition (naval) forces within the vicinity were alerted but were unable to prevent the hijacking as safety of the crew onboard is of priority," it said.
This week a Djibouti-based coalition anti-terrorism unit, Combined Task Force 150, set up a Maritime Security Patrol Area or safe corridor that navy warships will roam while coalition aircraft fly overhead. | |
| Posted by:Fred |