Somali pirates free oil tanker after record ransom

2010-02-22T18:50:54Z

<div><p>MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali pirates freed a Greek-flagged tanker carrying 2 million barrels of oil on Monday, a day after the biggest ransom yet paid to them was dropped onto its deck, the pirates and a maritime official said.</p><p>The Maran Centaurus was seized on Novemb...

Global pirate attacks at six-year high: watchdog

2010-02-22T20:31:50Z

<div><p>Piracy on the high seas rose to its highest level in six years in 2009, with attacks becoming more frequent and more violent across the globe, a maritime watchdog said Thursday.</p><p>There were 406 reported incidents of piracy and high-seas armed robbery in 2009, up from 293 the previous year, but below the figure of 445 in 2003, the International...

Somali pirates seize 2 ships

2010-02-23T09:02:07Z

<div id="subtitle">Somali pirates seize UK, Panamanian-flagged ships</div><div><p>Pirates seized a British-flagged chemical tanker and a Panamanian-flagged carrier off Somalia's coast and were holding 45 crew members Tuesday, a maritime official said.</p><p>The two hijackings late Monday showed that pirates a...

Pirates kill seaman in W.Africa tanker attack

2010-02-24T01:01:40Z

<div><p>Pirates attacked an oil tanker off the coast of west Africa, killing a Ukrainian officer before escaping with the contents of the ship's safe, the ship's owners and Benin's navy commander said Tuesday.</p><p>Commander Maxime Ahoyo said the officer on the Africa, killing a Ukrainian seaman, the commander of Benin's naval forces said on Tuesday.</p><p>Commander Maxime Ahoyo said the chief engineer of the Monrovia-flagged Cancale Star had been kil...

Oil tanker attacked by pirates off W.Africa: Benin

2010-02-24T01:14:38Z

<div><p>Pirates attacked an oil tanker off the coast of west Africa, killing a Ukrainian seaman, the commander of Benin's naval forces told AFP Tuesday.</p><p>"The death that we have is the chief mechanic, who is responsible for the engines. He is Ukrainian. The captain, a Lithuanian, is not hurt," naval ...

Somali pirates take Panamanian carrier, 26 crew

2010-02-24T15:38:22Z

<div><p>Pirates captured a Panamanian-flagged ship with 26 crew off the east African coast on Thursday and others fired rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons at an Italian ship, which escaped.</p><p>The bulk carrier Al Khaliq was hijacked when pirates boarded and overpowered the mostly Indian crew in waters between Somalia and the

Warships save vessels as Somali pirates persist

2010-02-25T00:30:55Z

<div id="subtitle">Somali pirate attacks resume as weather improves but international warships save many vessels</div><div><p>Pirates have resumed their daring attacks on shipping vessels after weather off the Somali coast improved, a maritime official said Wednesday, but warships in the area and precautions taken by mariners themselves have helped thwart the attempted hijackings.</p&...

Driven by Somalia, piracy attacks double this year

2010-02-26T09:18:48Z

<div><p>KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Piracy attacks worldwide more than doubled to 240 in the first half of 2009, driven by a rise in waters off Somalia, the International Maritime Bureau's Somali attacks are public face of piracy; out of the spotlight, crimes at sea are widespread</div><div><p>While Somali pirates top headlines with brazen ship hijackings for ransom, many smaller-scale attacks in the world's oceans — maritime muggings, essentially — go unreported, depriving mariners of information about possible threats to their safety and vessels.</p&...

Somali pirates shift attacks to new locations: IMB

2010-02-26T19:47:26Z

<div><p>A maritime watchdog Thursday warned seafarers that Somali pirates were targeting ships at the southern end of the Red Sea and off Oman due to bad weather and the absence of naval warships.</p><p>"The two new areas are at Bab al Mandab, southern R...

Warships 'no solution' for Somalia piracy

2010-02-27T08:24:26Z

<div><p>Foreign warship patrols and dramatic shoot-outs will never eliminate piracy off Somalia, according to experts meeting here who said the crisis needed a long-term political solution.</p><p>They also called for foreign intervention to halt illegal fishing and dumping of toxic chemicals in Somalia's territorial waters, saying the incursions were among the factors fuelling piracy.</p&...

Yemeni forces free seized oil tanker

2010-02-28T19:43:05Z

<div><p>Yemeni forces early Monday stormed an oil tanker seized by pirates off Yemen's coast, killing three hijackers, capturing 11 and regaining command of the ship, the defence ministry said.</p><p>The ministry in a statement on its website www.26sep.net said Yemeni marine troops, special force commandos and helicopters were deployed during heavy fighting for control of the Somali pirates were battling Yemeni coast guards to retain control of an empty Yemeni oil tanker on Sunday but the Yemenis liberated three other commercial ships, Yemeni officials said.</p><p>"Yemeni marine troops clashed with pirates and were able to free three commercial ships, but... the marine forces have been joined by helicopters to fight the pirates in the fourth ship," an officia...

Yemen says two dead as Somali pirates seize tanker

2010-02-28T20:05:40Z

<div><p>Somali pirates seized an empty Yemeni oil tanker in a deadly clash with coast guards on Sunday that cost at least two lives, Yemeni officials said.</p><p>"An oil tanker belonging to Aden refineries was seized" in the clash off the Yemeni coast, an official told AFP.</p><p>The defence ministry's website, www.26sep.net, sa...

German liquid gas tanker ship 'Longchamp' captured by pirates off Somalia coast

2009-03-15T06:02:18Z

The undated picture displays German liquid gas tanker ship 'Longchamp' captured by pirates off the Somalian coast. A spokesman of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reports in London, UK, 30 January 2009, the ship had reached the eastern coast of Somalia ...

Chinese sailors 'safe' after evading Somalia pirate attack

2010-03-01T02:11:27Z

<div><p>Chinese sailors reported missing after their vessel was attacked off Somalia are now safe after coalition forces helped them repel the pirates, a maritime watchdog said Wednesday.</p><p>"The pirates boarded the ship but the Chinese seafarers prevented the pirates from going into their accommodation for several hours," said Noel Choong...

Pirates shifting the goalposts on EU armada: watchdog

2010-03-01T05:29:37Z

<div><p>As an EU armada began operations off Somalia's pirate-infested coast Monday, maritime authorities said pirates had extended their already vast area of activity further south.</p><p>Britain's Admiral Philip Jones wi...

Somali pirates seize Turkish vessel, fire at Italian ship

2010-02-27T18:12:51Z

<div><p>Armed pirates captured a Turkish operated bulk carrier with 20 sailors off the coast of Somalia, Turkish and Kenyan officials said Thursday, as Ankara sought NATO's help to free the vessel.</p><p>The Marshall Island-...

Somali pirate attacks up 75 percent this year

2010-02-27T22:12:53Z

<div id="subtitle">Maritime agency: Piracy off Somalia surged to 'unprecedented' level, up 75 percent this year</div><div><p>Pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia this year have surged 75 percent, an international maritime agency said Thursday as it called for serious international action against the brigands who "operate with impunity."</p><p>The

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