Three more vessels attacked by Pirates…Malaysia has had enough
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYGXzHrNH18]
Add a French yacht and an Egyptian cargo ship to the list of approximately 10 vessels that are now being held hostage by pirates off the coast of Somalia. The French vessel is a sail boat with 3 people on board, and the Egyptian ship has a crew of 25. The Egyptian vessel, the M/V Al Mansourah was laden with cement and enroute to Djibouti when it was attacked. Article here and here.
The government of Malaysia has had enough and is sending 3 warships to the region. Two of the ten ships currently being held are Malaysian flagged, the Bunga Melati Dua and the Bunga Melati 5.
From the BBC:
Officials in the semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland say the ships are being held at the port of Eyl, a lawless outpost controlled by gangs.
Puntland’s minister for mines, who is leading a delegation to investigate the hijackings, told the BBC Somali Service from a hill overlooking the port that he could count eight captured vessels.
He said another two were reported to be on their way to Eyl.
The delegation had spoken to local elders, he said, but it had not approached the pirates.
The latest vessel to be hijacked was an Egyptian ship which was reported missing on Thursday.
Earlier this week a French sailing boat with two crew was seized.
Pirates holding that boat are reportedly seeking a ransom of more than $1m (£0.56m).
Puntland’s ports minister said after the capture of the French boat that pirates in the region were well-armed and employ a lot of people.
He said there was little co-ordination between those trying to tackle them.
In June, the UN Security Council voted to allow countries to send warships into Somalia’s waters to tackle the pirates, but the ports minister complained that international vessels “don’t intervene”.
I think that with this much intel and information available, it must compel the international forces in the area, particularly the U.S. Fifth Fleet to take decisive action to recover these ships and crew members from the hands of lawless terrorists. To do anything else would be toleration of their acts.
