March 23rd, 2010
01:26 PM ET

EU: Hijackers seize two cargo ships off Somalia

Hijackers seized two cargo ships Tuesday in waters near Somalia, the epicenter of the piracy industry.

The European Union Naval Force said hijackers took control of a ship in the Indian Ocean and were apparently taking it to Somalia.

The MV Frigia, a Turkish-owned and Maltese-flagged cargo vessel, had been headed east from Port Said in Egypt to Kaousichang in Thailand. The ship is now moving west and and appears to be heading toward one of the so-called pirate ports off the coast of Somalia. There are 21 crew members on the ship, 19 Turkish and 2 Ukrainian.

Also, the Bermuda-flagged and Virgin Islands-owned MV Talca was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden, EU NAVFOR said. That hijacking took place off the coast of Oman and 180 miles south of Mazera. The ship had been heading from Sokhna in Egypt to Busheir in Iran. Twenty-three crew members are from Sri Lanka, one is from the Philippines and another is from Syria.

The waters off the Somali coast - such as the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean - have been plagued by Somali pirates and the international community has adopted measures such as escorts and monitoring to crack down on piracy.

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Filed under: Somalia • World
soundoff (5 Responses)
  1. bill seitles

    Arming the freighters with hired mercenaries is the only way to stop this stupidity.

    March 23, 2010 at 2:00 pm | Report abuse |
  2. brian

    In my opinion US naval forces should seize the waters of somalia and supply security to all the vessels , and washington should be tuff when dealing with criminals of such kind .

    March 23, 2010 at 2:05 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Mark

    As soon as we start shooting the boats / ships out from under these Pirates, the hijackings will stop. Let them float back to shore. I'm sure a few will make it. When will the EU and the US Navy actually do something about these criminals?

    March 23, 2010 at 4:10 pm | Report abuse |
  4. john

    As someone who transits the "pirate zone" 10-12 times a year, let me say that no pirates have ever taken a ship through overwhelming force, cleverness, or skill. the pirates have simply discovered that we have absolutely no interest in fighting back. hijackings would come to a halt if we put a few firearms or grenades onboard the larger ships. the premise that we don't have the right to use deadly force against these seagoing hoodlums is absurd.

    March 23, 2010 at 4:37 pm | Report abuse |
  5. Texan

    If I read this article right and the other articles about Somali pirates hijacking ships, those attacks were all done outside of Somalia waters. Doesn’t that make it an international crime? If so, all naval forces have the right to blow those scumbags out of the water doesn’t it?

    If it is allowed to continue then it’s high time to enter Somalia waters and eliminate them. I agree about putting mercenaries on any and all vessels as well as heavily arming the ships crews and taking out the trash.

    March 24, 2010 at 7:58 am | Report abuse |
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