NAIROBI - Communication has been lost with a Comoran-flagged cargo ship captured by pirates off the Somali coast last month, raising fears of the crew safety, a maritime monitoring group said on Saturday. The MV Al Marjan, with 22 mostly Asian crew members on board, was seized on October 19 as it sailed to Mogadishu port from the United Arab Emirates port of Dubai.“We are worried that the ship has cut communication with the owner and the rest of the world,” said Andrew Mwangura of the Kenyan branch of the Seafarers’ Assistance Programme. “This is the second week since it cut communication, which means there are no negotiations going. This is a very bad indicator on the fate of the crew,” he told AFP.
Mwangura explained that “cutting communication” between the pirated vessels and the outside world in the past has been an indication that “something bad” has happened onboard. “When pirates killed a sailor in Ching Fong Hwa 168, they cut communication. That is why we are worried this time round,” he said.