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2014-01-20 Africa Horn
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Eritrean forces board ship in Red Sea, not pirates
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Eritrean forces have boarded a merchant vessel that was in their territorial waters in an incident the crew initially reported as a pirate attack, maritime officials said on Sunday.
| Rest of the article confirms that the Eritreans did it, but no one says why. |
It was not immediately clear why the forces boarded the ship, the MV Marzooqah, and it was not immediately possible to contact authorities in Eritrea, one of Africa's nuttiest most isolated nations. The container vessel had sent out a distress signal late on Saturday indicating that they were coming under attack by pirates.
Reuters data showed the vessel change direction sharply but also showed it moving towards the Eritrean coast early on Sunday, not the Gulf of Aden - the site of most pirate attacks and where one official had said the ship was headed.
"We assess this is an operation by the Eritrean forces, who went on board the vessel," said Lieutenant Commander Jacqueline Sherriff, spokeswoman for the European Union Naval Force Somalia (EU NAVFOR) whose operational region is further south.
"We believe the vessel is now in the hands of the Eritrean forces," she said, adding the incident had initially appeared on a system used for piracy alerts. "The crew has reported they thought they were being attacked."
She said the latest information on the Eritrean role had been obtained from the UK Maritime Trade Operation (UKMTO), which had spoken to Marzooqah's captain. UKMTO is based in Dubai and run by Britain's Royal Navy.
Andrew Mwangura, secretary general of the Seafarers Union of Kenya, also said the 2,196 deadweight tonne vessel had been boarded by Eritrean forces, basing his information on regional coastguard reports. He had initially reported it was a pirate attack. 
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Posted by Steve White 2014-01-20 00:00||
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