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| Africa Horn |
| Hijacked tanker's captain succumbs |
| 2009-11-19 |
| The captain of a Virgin-Islands owned chemical tanker hijacked this week has died from gunshot wounds sustained when the ship was attacked, a Somali pirate said on Wednesday. There was a pause in hijackings during monsoon rains, but Somali sea gangs have stepped up attacks in the past two months, especially off the Seychelles as the pirates extend their range to evade navies patrolling off the Horn of Africa. "The captain of the chemical tanker died last night from gunshot wounds he got during the hijack," a pirate who gave his name as Mohamed told Reuters. "The ship is headed for Haradheere with the dead captain." The European Union naval force EU Navfor force operating in the area said on Tuesday that pirates had seized the 22,294 DWT tanker MV Theresa VIII 180 nautical miles northwest of the Seychelles with 28 North Korean crew on board. The ship that is operated from Singapore had been sailing to the Kenyan port of Mombasa but had changed course after being seized near the Indian Ocean archipelago. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 #3 abu - more likely you'd be the only one here if you were surprised. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-11-19 14:33 |
| #4 According to the CIA handbook, North Korea has a 1 ship registered in the (British) Virgin Islands. They also have confidential off-shore banking and tax breaks for registering ships there. Crews can be from anywhere and the ships can operate most anywhere, concealed by the flag that is flying. It makes murky maritime issues of jurisdiction. |
| Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck5091 2009-11-19 13:27 |
| #3 am i the only one not surprised at the hijacker's name? |
| Posted by: abu do you love 2009-11-19 01:57 |
| #2 Virgin Island owned but N. Korea crewed? How does that work again? Be interesting to see if N. Korea is the one to come up with the ransom. |
| Posted by: tipover 2009-11-19 01:17 |
| #1 Just as well, he would have been a dead man on arriving back in North Korea anyway. |
| Posted by: gromky 2009-11-19 00:18 |