23.10.2009
Source:
Pirates hijacked Panama-flagged cargo vessel in Indian Ocean on Thursday, says release at official website of Atalanta EU naval operation.
Cargo ship
Al Khaliq was hijacked Thursday morning, 180 marine miles west Seychelles. During the last contact the crew said there were two pirates aboard. Later on, EU patrol aircraft flied over the incident area and confirmed that
Al Khaliq was hijacked by six pirates.
The crew of the ship consists of 26 men, says
France Press referring to the source in Brussels. Yet there is no any information of their citizenship.
Furthermore, on Thursday pirates tried to hijack Italian vessel
Jolly Rosso 400 marine miles east Kenyan port Mombasa, but the ship increased speed, carried out a few maneuvers and managed to outride pursuers.
EU naval operation
Atalanta started in Dec 2008. It was initially reported that the operation would last 12 months. In June 2009 there was a decision to prolong operation on one year.
Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Holland and Sweden take part in EU anti-piracy operation. Norway, Cyprus, Ireland, Malta and Finland have previously declared their participation.
Russian Navy ships are patrolling and escorting merchant vessels in the region as well.
According to International Maritime Bureau, number of worldwide pirate attacks on vessels during nine months of 2009 has exceeded analogous parameter of the last year. 306 pirate assaults were recorded since Jan till Sept 2009, comparing with 293 in 2008.
During three quarters of 2009 pirates attacked 47 vessels near Somali, country ceased to exist as a united state as early as 1991. That is almost for times as many as in the previous year. In the Gulf of Aden 100 ships were assaulted in 2009 comparing with 51 in Jan-Sept 2008.
In total, during nine month of 2009 pirates tried to grapple with 114 ships, 34 vessels were hijacked. As of Oct 21, 661 crewmembers are currently hold hostages, 19 men were injured while attacks, 7 were kidnapped, 6 were killed and 8 are missed.
