Somali regional authorities on Wednesday despatched forces to attempt to rescue a Panama-flagged cargo freighter that was hijacked by pirates over the weekend, officials said.The Dutch-owned MV Amiya Scan along with its nine-strong Russian and Filipino crew was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday, the latest in a string of attacks off the coast of the lawless African nation. "They are holding the ship in the coastal area of Ras Binnah and (the) decision is to rescue it by force. Our forces are already on the way," said Bile Mohamed, an advisor to Puntland President Ade Musse.
Ras Binnah is a coastal area about 250 kilometres (155 miles) east of the Puntland port of Bosasso.
Another Puntland official confirmed the deployment, but urged the vessel's owners Dutch Reider Shipping not to yield to any ransom demands. "We ordered our forces to go to mission to rescue the ship by force. We have asked the ship's owner not to pay ransom," said Ahmed Said Ownur, fisheries and water resources minister for Puntland, a breakaway region in northeastern Somalia.
Musse blamed shipping companies' readiness to cough up for the piracy problem, saying their response has exacerbated a longstanding problem, officials said.