Somali pirates up the ante

IT has been a busy and profitable past week for Somali pirates — they hijacked a South Korean bulk carrier last Wednesday, released another South Korean cargo ship the next day, and let a hijacked Thai ship go on Saturday after getting a ransom.

Somali minister Ali Abdi Aware reported the release of the Thai ship after the ransom, but said yesterday it was not clear exactly how much money was paid.

Somalia, which has had no effective government since 1991, has become the world’s piracy hotspot.

There have been 73 attacks this year in the Gulf of Aden that forms the northern Somalia coastline, and about 29 ships have been hijacked, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

The freed Korean ship had been hijacked for more than a month.

Korean officials said its 22 crew were safe.

Close to a dozen ships and more than 200 crew remain in the hands of pirates, including the hijacked Ukrainian arms ship, the MV Faina, which pirates have demanded an $8 million (€6m) ransom for.

US warships are still surrounding the Faina to keep the pirates from unloading its cargo of battle tanks and heavy weapons.

The hijacking of the Faina and heightened concern over the chaos in a key shipping route, has prompted Nato, the EU and India to send warships to help the US Navy ships that have been patrolling the region.