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NAIROBI - Pirates seized a tanker and attacked a UN food ship that escaped, officials said Saturday, in the latest in a series of incidents off Somalia that have sparked concern among Western powers.
Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur, told AFP that pirates boarded a Greek chemical tanker Friday at 1330 GMT.
"Pirates attacked the ship flying a Panama flag using boats," he said, adding the tanker was hijacked in the notorious Gulf of Aden.
Greece's merchant marine ministry however denied the tanker was Greek, saying it had been informed that a Panamanian-flagged ship, carrying 17 Georgians and three Spaniards, had been boarded by pirates.
On Thursday, pirates attempted to board a World Food Programme (WFP) chartered freighter, MV Al Salaam, after it had offloaded food aid in the Somali capital Mogadishu, but it escaped, the agency said.
"The ship outran the attackers (and) was then escorted by the Canadian frigate -- Ville de Quebec -- until it arrived in Mombasa on Friday," WFP spokesman Peter Smerdon told AFP in Nairobi.
Such attacks have surged even with US warships and navies from other nations currently shadowing hijacked Ukrainian ship, MV Faina -- laden with 33 tanks and other arms -- anchored off the Somali fishing village of Hobyo, to prevent the pirates from offloading the cargo.
The pirates are demanding a 20-million-dollar (15-million-euro) ransom to release Faina and its 21 crew languishing in captivity since September 25.
On Thursday, NATO defence ministers agreed to send seven war ships this month to help combat piracy off Somalia, but their threat is yet to soften the pirates.
The alliance said the vessels, including a number of frigates, would help escort WFP food shipments and patrol the largely-lawless waters off Somalia.
WFP ships carry 30,000-35,000 tonnes of aid into Somalia each month. Its vessels are currently under Canadian escort, but that service is due to come to an end on October 20 and the operation could halt if no escort is available.
According to the IMB, 69 ships have been attacked off Somalia since January, 27 were hijacked and 11 are still being held for ransom. Pirates are holding more than 200 crew members from various nationalities.
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Choong said IMB had issued a fresh warning to ships to maintain strict anti-piracy watch since the waters off Somalia were too wide to secure.
"As long as there is no firm deterrent, pirates will continue to attack ships. But the military cannot be everywhere since this is a wide area," he added.
The Gulf of Aden is one of the world's busiest maritime routes and under increasing surveillance from foreign warships, leading pirates to venture further out to catch their prey.
The pirates operate high-powered speedboats and are heavily armed, sometimes holding ships seized off Somalia's coast for weeks.
Somalia has lacked an effective government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre set off a deadly power struggle that has scuppered numerous UN-backed bids to restore stability.
- AFP /ls
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