Somali pirates seize Turkish cargo ship

BRUSSELS, Tuesday

Suspected Somalia pirates seized a Turkish-owned cargo ship in the Indian Ocean today, well outside a patrolled zone, the European Union’s anti-piracy naval force announced. The Maltese-flagged Frigia, with a mainly-Turkish crew of 21, was heading from Port Said in Egypt to Thailand when it was hijacked in the early morning, the EU’s NAVFOR naval force said.

“The action took place some 1,000 nautical miles east of the north coast of Somalia, that is 400 nautical miles outside of the normal EU naval force operating area,,” said NAVFOR spokesman Commander John Harbour by phone.

“She has turned around and is clearly heading towards one of the Somali pirates’ strongholds,” Commander Harbour added.
The crew comprised 19 Turks and two Ukrainians, he said.

Turkish reports said the boat was loaded with fertiliser and was now heading towards the southern Somalian port of Eyl.

In the past few weeks, NAVFOR, Nato and the US-led combined task force have disrupted 17 pirate attacks.

“By disrupting such a large amount of pirates activity, the pirates have again had to move their operations well away from the Somali coast to achieve success,” said Harbour. Today’s attack took place nearer the Indian sub-continent than Africa.
Meanwhile, European naval forces patrolling the seas off Somalia rescued an Iranian fishing crew left for dead by pirates without food, fresh water or fuel, military officials said today.

The 13 crew members had been tied up for two days, robbed and left floating aimlessly in the water with radio equipment and mobile phones down before being found by a Spanish warship. (AFP)