News

17-11-2009

Chemical tanker hijacked near Seychelles

SAFA AFP - Somali pirates have seized a chemical tanker near the Seychelles, the latest in a spate of attacks spanning an ever-widening area between Tanzania and the Maldives, maritime sources told AFP on Tuesday.

The vessel was attacked on Monday northwest of Aldabra, an island which forms part of the Seychelles archipelago but lies some 700 miles from the main island of Mahe and is closer to Tanzania or Madagascar.

A maritime source speaking on condition of anonymity said the captured vessel was spotted early Tuesday moving north towards Somalia.

"There aren't many Atalanta (the European Union's anti-piracy naval force) ships in the Indian Ocean at the moment and there are more and more attacks in the north of the Canal of Mozambique," the source said.
The name and flag of the captured vessel or the size of its crew were not immediately clear.

The world's naval powers last year started deploying warships in the Gulf of Aden in an attempt to curb attacks by ransom-hunting pirates that were seen as a threat to one of the globe's most crucial maritime trade routes.

Pirate groups have since shifted their focus to the wider Indian Ocean, a huge area much more difficult to patrol, and started venturing as far as the Seychelles and beyond.

Most of the attacks against foreign vessels by Somali pirates in the past month were carried out in or around the Seychelles exclusive economic zone.