UN ship seized by pirates in Nairobi
Pirates have taken control of a UNchartered vessel off the tip of the Horn of Africa.
The move was the first reported hijacking since last year when the interim government, with Ethiopian military help, drove out Islamists who controlled southern Somalia. The pirates, who disappeared last week from Somali waters during a battle for control of the nation on land, were armed with AK47s. They stormed the freighter MV Rozen and its crew of six Kenyans and six Sri Lankans after intercepting it with a speedboat.
“She had just finished unloading in the port of Bosasso,” Andrew Mwangura, the director of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, said. “To date, there has been no communication. They have not made any demands at all.”
The ship, which had offloaded 1,800 tonnes of food aid, was empty.
The move was the first reported hijacking since last year when the interim government, with Ethiopian military help, drove out Islamists who controlled southern Somalia. The pirates, who disappeared last week from Somali waters during a battle for control of the nation on land, were armed with AK47s. They stormed the freighter MV Rozen and its crew of six Kenyans and six Sri Lankans after intercepting it with a speedboat.
“She had just finished unloading in the port of Bosasso,” Andrew Mwangura, the director of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, said. “To date, there has been no communication. They have not made any demands at all.”
The ship, which had offloaded 1,800 tonnes of food aid, was empty.