Somali pirates hijacked a Greek and a Ukrainian ship, while a NATO warship briefly detained 19 pirates armed with high explosives after foiling an attack on a Norwegian tanker in the Gulf of Aden, on Saturday. Pirates said they were taking the Ukrainian ship, hijacked in the Indian Ocean with a cargo including United Nations' (UN) vehicles, to the Somali coastal town of Haradheere. "We have hijacked a ship carrying industrial equipment including white cars with the UN logo, our friends are on board it," a pirate who said his name was Hussein said by telephone from Haradheere. Maritime and UN officials were not immediately available to confirm the hijack.
Gunmen also seized a Greek-owned bulk carrier, the MT Ariana, with a 24-strong Ukrainian crew, said East African Seafarers Assistance Programme's Andrew Mwangura."MT Ariana was seized at 0200 GMT north of Madagascar en route to the Middle East from Brazil. The Ukrainian crew are said to be unhurt," he said.
High explosives: NATO said a Portuguese warship went to the rescue of the MV Kition after the Norwegian crude oil tanker radioed for help on Friday as it was approached by a skiff full of pirates brandishing assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. "We were the nearest warship, so we immediately scrambled our helicopter," said North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Lieutenant Commander Alexandre Fernandes from the Corte-Real, which was about 20 nautical miles north of the tanker when the distress call went out. The helicopter spotted the skiff and began tracking the pirates who fled to their ship, a dhow carrying 19 heavily armed pirates, which was later intercepted after a high-speed chase by a Portuguese escort frigate.
Eight marines then managed to board the vessel. "They surrendered immediately," said Fernandes, who added no injuries were reported and the pirates did not shoot at the Bahamas-flagged merchant vessel, the helicopter or the marines. NATO's Fernandes said the pirates captured by the Corte-Real, were released after consultations with Portuguese authorities. Fernandes said the Special Forces had found the pirates were armed with four sticks of the chemical high-explosive P4A, four AK-47s and a rocket propelled grenade launcher with nine grenades.
"It was almost a kilogramme of high explosives. If used correctly it can open a hole in the hull of a ship and sink her," Fernandes said. "It is the first time we have spotted high explosives on board a pirate ship, normally they just stick to AK-47s and RPGs," he said.