Somali pirates have attempted to hijack two ships at the farthest south point of the central coast of Mozambique, according to the EU Naval Force.The two separate attacks on a Liberian registered oil tanker and a Panamanian bulk carrier were carried out just 20 nautical miles apart, north of Mozambique's central port city of Beira, according to Maritime Security Centre front man Wing Commander Paddy O'Kennedy.
"Those vessels were attacked on the 24th and 25th respectively," AFP quoted O'Kennedy as saying.
"They were attacked 19 degrees south (of the equator). That is well south of the normal areas we work."
The Liberian registered oil tanker maneuvered its way out of the hijacking while the Panamanian bulk carrier evaded the plot by returning fire.
In November, a UN report said that the number of successful hijackings by Somali pirates has climbed in 2010, and that the pirates have expanded their zone of attacks, which have become more violent.
The pirates managed to stage 37 successful hijackings in the first 10 months of 2010, up from 33 in the same period in 2009, the UN report said.
Mozambique, one of the poorest countries in the world, does not have a large enough navy to patrol its 2,470-kilometer coastline, which is the second longest coastline in Africa.