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| Africa Horn | |
| Somali pirates hijack ship from Omani port | |
| 2011-08-21 | |
| DUBAI/MUMBAI: Somali pirates hijacked a tanker managed by an Indian firm and with 21 Indian sailors on board from an Omani port on Saturday, IndiaÂ’s government shipping agency and a Gulf shipping source said. It is the second such incident in the Gulf Arab stateÂ’s waters since January. The Directorate General of Shipping said the Fairchem Bogey, a chemical-oil tanker managed by Mumbai-based Anglo-Eastern Ship Management, was hijacked while anchored in Salalah port, and the Salalah-based shipping source said the vessel was being loaded with methanol when it was seized. The portÂ’s operator, APM Terminals, however, said pirates boarded the vessel while it was two miles off the coast of Oman, awaiting a berth, and commandeered it toward Somalia.
“The Omani authorities are in discussion with the pirates. Government leaders have met this morning at the palace of the Sultan of Oman. At 8:28 a.m. the vessel sailed in the direction of Somalia,” Boyd said. Somali pirates behind similar vessel hijackings usually operate in Indian Ocean waters, but in January, a 20,586-ton Algerian-flagged bulk carrier was seized about 150 miles southeast of Salalah. The ship, with 27 crew from Algeria, Ukraine and the Philippines, was heading to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from Salalah with a cargo of clinker. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |