The Hindu : Front Page : Somali pirates hijack vessel with 18 Indians

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Thursday, Sep 18, 2008
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Somali pirates hijack vessel with 18 Indians

Special Correspondent

Whereabouts unknown, but merchant tanker is reported to be safe

Western warships have been unable to curb piracy
Navy seeks authorisation to rescue ships carrying Indians

NEW DELHI: A 22-member crew of a merchant tanker, including 18 Indians, abducted by Somali pirates on Monday afternoon is reported to be safe, official sources have said.

However, there is no indication whether they will be freed in the near future although the international community recently began conducting vigorous patrolling around the piracy-prone Gulf of Aden from where this ship was hijacked.

Flying a Hong Kong flag, Stolt Valor joins 10 ships held captive by Somali pirates along with a crew of 221 at undisclosed locations.

No contact

The shipping company’s agent received a brief call from Indian cadet Santosh Patil on Monday informing them that 15 pirates had boarded the vessel and were taking it to the Somali coast. The vessel, headed for Mumbai from Suez, was hijacked about 38 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen. There has been no contact with the ship thereafter.

Meanwhile, hours before the ship was hijacked on Monday, the Indian Navy again reminded the government for authorisation to go to the aid of ships carrying Indians in the Gulf of Aden. Somalia, with rudiments of a government in a few towns, has given blanket permission to warships to enter its territorial waters.

The Navy occasionally has ships sailing in the general area and believes it can attempt a rescue operation if its assets are in the vicinity. The French did successfully free two of its nationals held captive for nearly two weeks and killed or captured seven pirates. But unlike the Indian Navy, the French are familiar with the area. Besides a military base nearby, they also have dominions further down, off the eastern coast of Africa, where there is again considerable French military presence.

Patrol area

Despite the Navy’s willingness to undertake rescue operations if the government asked it to be prepared for such an eventuality, success in every operation may not be guaranteed. Warships of western countries and their military allies positioned in the area have so far been unable to totally curb piracy. However, the U.S. took the lead last month to restore normality in the area by setting up a maritime security patrol area which is patrolled by ships of the ‘coalition forces.’

Modus operandi

In a typical scenario, Somali pirates on speedboats intercept vessels and fire on the unarmed crew. They then board the vessels and take them to the coast. Some ships have even been hijacked from ports near the nominal Somali capital of Mogadishu.

With Somalia unable to control piracy, the International Maritime Bureau wants warships of sovereign nations to conduct more vigorous patrolling in the area.

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