Somali pirates hijack ship

SOMALI pirates have hijacked a Yemeni ship loaded with steel in the Gulf of Aden, in the Arabian Sea, officials said yesterday, a day after local sources said the gang holding a Saudi supertanker demanded a $15 million (€11.5m) ransom.

Scores of attacks this year have brought the pirates millions of dollars in ransoms, hiked up shipping insurance costs, sent foreign navies rushing to the area, and left about a dozen boats with more than 200 hostages still in pirate hands.

Yemen’s official SABA news agency said the MV Adina was travelling from Mukalla port to the southern island of Socotra and had been due to dock on November 20 with 507 metric tonnes of steel.

Yemeni security sources said contact was being made with the pirates, who were demanding a $2m ransom.

The sources said the vessel was owned by Yemeni Abu Talal and had seven crew — three Somalis, two Yemenis and two Panamanians.

Andrew Mwangura, co-ordinator of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, said the MV Adina had been out of contact for about four days, so it was not known when it had been seized.

A pirate on board the Saudi Sirius Star told the BBC by telephone that “no company” had yet made contact with them, only people claiming to be intermediaries who could not be trusted. He said the ship’s crew were “fine” and had contacted their families.