Somali pirates while sailing to Slalah seaport, southeast of Oman. The attack was the first of its kind against an Algerian vessel.Among the crew of the "Blida", 27 in number, including seamen, engineers and technicians, 17 are of Algerian nationality, six Ukrainians, one Jordanian, one Indonesian and two Filipinos.
The vessel sailing to Dar Es Salam in Tanzania was attacked by pirates Saturday the first day of the year off the Arabian Sea shortly after leaving the port of Salalah.
The vessel was loaded with 26 tons of raw materials for cement manufacture. According to the director of the company Nasreddine Mansouri, in a statement to the press yesterday, following this incident, the operation has took place Saturday afternoon at 3:30 pm (local time), adding that Somali pirates had violated the territorial waters of the Sultanate of Oman and hijacked the ship to an unknown destination.
The last contact with the crew of the freighter, the sources said, took place just minutes after capture. The captain, a Ukrainian had launched an SOS before the pirates did cut all contact.
According to the director of the company, the "Blida" has not seen the Algerian territorial waters for three consecutive years; it was leased to the British company "Secure Holding" and it was the last one having been informed of its capture.
The director of ABC said when we met with him last night that the families and relatives of the 17 sailors will be notified when necessary. He added that the British company was contacted by the pirates but they have not yet clarified their demands.