PIRATES have hijacked a merchant ship in Somali waters and demanded a ransom for it, the second such seizure off the anarchic nation's coast in five weeks. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said overnight that pirates seized the ship and its crew close to Mogadishu. Andrew Mwangura, director of the East African Seafarers Assistance Program, said the vessel was the MV Nimatullah, a ship with 14 Indian crew members and a cargo of 800 tonnes. It is registered in the United Arab Emirates, he said. "We are informed the hijackers are demanding a ransom," Mr Mwangura said. The cargo includes clothes, sugar, cooking oil, slippers and cosmetics, he said, and belongs to Somali businessman Sheikh Saney, who could not be reached for comment. The vessel was seized while anchored outside Mogadishu's deepwater port after sailing from Dubai, he said. The latest hijacking follows the capture of a UN-chartered freighter, the Rozen, with its crew of six Kenyans and six Sri Lankans in late February.
The crew are still being held off the coast of the semi-autonomous Puntland region. That hijacking was the first attack reported since the interim government, with Ethiopian military help, drove out Islamists late last year who controlled southern Somalia and helped crack down on piracy.