Somali pirates have seized a US-owned and Italian-flagged tugboat in the Gulf of Aden.The tugboat, which was hijacked on Saturday, carries 10 Italian citizens among its 16-member crew, according to Nato alliance officials on a Portuguese warship in the area.Sergio Carvalho, a lieutenant on theNRB Corte-Real, said the tugboat issued a distress call before communications went silent six minutes later.Andrew Mwangura, an official from the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme, a regional maritime group, said the crew were believed to be unharmed on the tugboat, which he said was operated from the United Arab Emirates.The hijacking is the latest in a series of raids in the region. At least a dozen ships have been seized off the Somali coast, with more than 200 crew members being held hostage.Somali pirates have continued to operate despite the presence of an international task force gathered to defend shipping in what is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment