Charlot Zahra Somali pirates have hijacked a Maltese-flagged Turkish ship with 22 crew members on board.
The “MV Frigia” was hijacked in waters between Somalia and India, in an area some 400 nautical miles outside a shipping corridor protected by an international naval fleet.
EU NAVFOR, the EU mission which is patrolling the Somali coast to protect against piracy, confirmed the news in a statement issued early yesterday afternoon.
“On Tuesday morning, the Malta flagged Turkish owned (Garanti Finansal Kiralama) cargo ship MV Frigia, deadweight 35,000 tonnes, was reported hijacked in the Indian Ocean,” the EU NAVFOR statement added.
The hijacking took place approximately 1000 Nautical miles east of the northern coast of Somalia. EU NAVFOR added that this position was “closer to India than Somalia” and was approximately 400 Nautical Miles outside the normal EU NAVFOR operation area.
The ship was heading from Port Said to Kaousichang in Thailand with a crew of 19 Turkish sailors and 2 Ukrainian sailors.
The ship was heading East but had now turned around, was heading West and “appears to be heading for one of the known pirate ports off the coast of Somalia,” EU NAVFOR added.
Somali pirates are a persistent problem in the Indian Ocean area. Several NATO and EU-member countries have contributed to the naval patrols that have been set up to deter the pirates.
Only a few weeks ago, Malta had announced that it was going to join the EU’s anti-piracy mission in Somalia by sending a team of Armed Forces’ Of Malta (AFM) soldiers on board a Dutch ship.
Turkish sources reported that the ship signalled an emergency alarm at 03.37 which is when the attack took place.
The same sources were quoted as saying that the ship that was carrying fertilisers from Israel to Thailand and had gone through risky waters where the Somali pirates have a strong-hold with a Chinese escort on Saturday 20 March,
After the risky waters were passed, MV Frigia continued its journey towards the port in Thailand on its own, when the attack took place.
It is expected that the ship is being turned around to the Somalian EYL shipping port.
EU NAVFOR said it would “continue to monitor the situation”.
Operation Atalanta’s main tasks are to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the World Food Program (WFP) and vessels of AMISOM, and to protect vulnerable ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean and to deter and disrupt piracy. EU NAVFOR also monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia. czahra@mediatoday.com.mt
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