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| Africa Horn |
| Somali pirates to free Chinese coal ship |
| 2009-12-28 |
| [Iran Press TV Latest] Somali pirates onboard a Chinese cargo ship say they are preparing to release the vessel and its crew of 25 after receiving a USD 3.5 million in ransom. A pirate source said Sunday that a helicopter dropped the ransom on the deck of the coal ship De Xin Hai, which was seized by Somali pirates in mid-October en route to India. The ship, carrying a 76,000-ton cargo from South Africa, came under attack in the Indian Ocean northeast of the Seychelles, but was later transferred to the bandit's hideout on the Somali coast, where a number of other pirate-held ships remain anchored. The October 18 hijacking again highlighted how a multinational European Union-led naval armada dispatched to the region to battle piracy in the Horn of Africa has failed to tackle the growing crisis in one of the world's busiest shipping routes. Furthermore, the anti-piracy presence seems to have pushed the outlaws to expand their operations. De Xin Hai was taken more than 1,000 kilometers (550 nautical miles) from the Somali coast. The limits faced by the naval mission also renders is impossible to hold any suspected pirates caught at sea without proof. The pirates in turn take advantage of the situation, dumping any weapons or proof as soon as a warship is sighted. The 324 hijacking attempts worldwide up to October 20 this year, point to a dramatic rise from the same period in 2008, with 194 attacks. Of the total annual attacks in 2009 and 2008 respectively, 37 and 36 were successful according to the latest figures from the ICC International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB). |
| Posted by:Fred |