Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Hong Kong ship with 18 Indians hijacked near Somali coast

Around 18 Indians are among 22 crewmembers on board a ship that was hijacked by pirates Monday in the Gulf of Aden near the Somali coast, an official confirmed on Tuesday.

Maritime official said the Hong Kong ship Mt Stolt Valor was sailing in a maritime security corridor in the gulf patrolled by an international coalition of warships and aircraft when it was attacked.

The incident took place at 1016 GMT on Monday. There were 18 Indians, two Filipinos, a Bangladeshi and a Russian national on board the vessel when it was hijacked. The ship was on its way to Mumbai.

Pirates have stepped up attacks on merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden, as Somalia's current transitional government has failed to shackle the pirates in the key commercial shipping lane.

An international maritime organization has sounded the alarm over the upsurge of hijacking incidents on the Gulf of Aden where more than 50 Filipino seafarers have been abducted since July. The alert stipulates 24-hour vigil as they pass through the Gulf of Aden.

The Gulf of Aden, an important waterway for shipping, is within the Arabian Sea. It is between Yemen on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula and Somalia in the Horn of Africa. It connects with the Red Sea through the Babel Mandeb strait in the northwest.

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