Somali Pirates Seize a Tanker and a Cargo Ship
By MARK McDONALD - NYT
Published: December 29, 2009

HONG KONG — A Greek-owned cargo ship and a British-flagged chemical tanker have been seized by Somali pirates as the marauders scored a record number of attacks and hijackings in 2009.

The Piracy Reporting Center of the International Maritime Bureau said Tuesday that pirates operating across the Gulf of Aden and along the coast of Somalia have attacked 214 vessels so far this year, resulting in 47 hijackings. Twelve of those ships, with a total of 263 crew members, are currently being held for ransom by the pirates.

In 2008, according to the maritime bureau, 111 ships were attacked in the region, a figure that itself represented a 200 percent increase from 2007.

The St James Park, a slow-moving chemical tanker bound from Spain to Thailand, issued a distress signal on Monday that it was being attacked in the Gulf of Aden. The owners confirmed Tuesday that the ship had been seized.

The tanker was being monitored by the European Union Naval Force Somalia, which said Tuesday that the ship was being taken toward Somalia. Its crew of 26 was said to include Filipinos, Russians, Georgians, Romanians, Bulgarians, Ukrainians, Poles, Indians and Turks. More!