Pirates release food aid ship

NAIROBI – Somali pirates attacked a Maltese flagged-ship before dawn yesterday with rocket-propelled grenades, but the ship escaped unharmed, a Nato spokesman said.

And in a rare case of good news, Somali pirates released a Lebanese-owned cargo ship after only a few days after they found out it was headed to pick up food aid for hungry Somalis.
Yesterday’s attack on the MV Atlantica took place 48 kilometres off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden, said Lieutenant-Commander Alexandre Santos Fernandes, a spokesman for the Nato alliance.
Two boats with about six pirates each attacked the ship and one skiff attempted to board it. The ship took evasive maneuvers and escaped without damages or injury to its crew, Fernandes said.
Meanwhile, UN World Food Programme spokesman Peter Smerdon said pirates released the Lebanese-owned MV Sea Horse on Friday. He had no more details and it was not known if a ransom was paid.
The Togo-flagged ship was hijacked April 14 with 19 crew as it headed to Mumbai, India, to pick up over 7 300 tons of WFP food destined for Somalia.
Somali clan elder Abdisalan Khalif Ahmed, speaking to The Associated Press from the Somali pirate haven of Harardhere, said gunmen released the ship after they found out it was supposed to pick up food for their own countrymen.
Some pirates have agreed not to target ships carrying relief supplies, but pirate gangs are controlled by rival clans and do not operate in concert.
Other freighters carrying food aid have also been attacked recently, including the US-flagged Maersk Alabama, whose American Capt. Richard Phillips was held hostage for five days until he was freed April 12 by US Navy snipers.
The WFP is feeding 3.5 million Somalis this year, about half the country’s people. That requires shipping 43 000 tons of food every month, some 90 per cent of which is sent by sea. Flying in food aid is too expensive, and roads in the lawless country are plagued by bandits.
Somali pirates still hold at least 17 other ships and around 300 crew, and can earn $1 million or more in ransom from each kidnapped ship.
Pirate attacks have increased in recent weeks, with gunmen from Somalia searching for targets further out to sea as ships try to avoid the anarchic nation. Pirates have attacked more than 80 boats this year alone, according to the Kuala Lumpur-based International Maritime Bureau.
On Sunday, repeated warning shots from Nato helicopters and warships ended a dramatic pursuit of seven pirates who tried to hijack the Norwegian-flagged tanker MV Front Ardenn in the Gulf of Aden, the Nato alliance said.
The gulf is the key water link between Europe and Asia, a waterway crossed by 20 000 ships a year and heavily targeted by pirates.
– Nampa-AP