14.01.2011
All six crewmembers of Danish cargo ship Leopard attacked by pirates on Wednesday in the Gulf of Aden were captured and brought to pirate mothership which is a former Thai trawler. That was reported on Thursday by Danish news agency Ritzaus Bureau.
The crew consists of two Danish and four Filipinos. Danish foreign ministry refused to comment the incident, probably for reasons of the hostages' safety, reports the agency.
According to various sources, Turkish marines from NATO joint naval force boarded MV
Leopard on Thursday but found neither the crew nor pirates.
The vessel is operated by
Shipcraft. According to the company's website, four ships of its fleet are used for transportation of hazardous, military, and nuclear cargoes.
On Wednesday Somali pirates hijacked Indian-flagged fishing vessel
Al Musa. The assault was carried out in the Arabian Sea near Oman. All 14 crewmen were taken hostages. According to Indian Navy, the ship sailed from Gujarat (India) to the Persian Gulf. Totally, in 2010 pirates attacked 130 commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea which is twice as large as in 2007, reports
ITAR-TASS.
