MALAYSIAN NAVY RESCUED HIJACKED TANKER
Royal Malaysian navy commandos keep watch on detained Somali pirates on Malaysian tanker MT Bunga Laurel in the Gulf of Aden
Malaysian Navy commandos have rescued a chemical tanker hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden just hours after the ship was seized. The commandos injured three pirates, captured seven, and rescued 23 crew members on board the MT Bunga Laurel on Friday morning.The armed pirates stormed the ship on Thursday night, and the crew responded by locking themselves in a safe room and activating a distress signal, which was picked up by the navy.
The commandos exchanged gunfire with the pirates before overcoming them, the navy said in a statement on Friday.- According to the New Straits Times newspaper, the Bunga Laurel was carrying oil worth $10m.
- The newspaper also said that a Fennec attack helicopter had pinned down the pirates' "mothership" with machine gun fire as the commandoes boarded the Laurel.
Najib Razak, the prime minister, said he was informed of the situation and that the authorities were considering whether the pirates should be brought to Malaysia to face trial.- "I am proud of our [navy], which acted with full efficiency and demonstrated courage,'' he told a news conference.
The Bunga Laurel rescue came on the same day that South Korea staged a similar effort, freeing 21 crew members and killing eight pirates from a freighter in the Arabian Sea that had been hijacked last week.17 FILIPINO SEAMEN FREED BY SOMALI PIRATES
MANILA, April 17 -Somali pirates have freed 17 Filipino seamen on a Greek vessel Wednesday after almost a month in captivity, China's Xinhua news agency quoted a Philippine government official as saying on Friday.The release of the sailors, seized on March 19 on MV Titan after sailing through the dangerous waters of Gulf of Aden, brought down to 105 the total number of Filipino seafarers being held by Somali gunmen.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos did not say if ransom was paid to secure the Filipinos' freedom. It was reported in the past that shipowners paid huge amounts to ransom for their crew and hijacked vessels in Somalia as Philippine officials insist that, as a policy, the government does neither negotiate directly with nor pay ransom to the kidnappers.Since 2006, a total of 227 Filipino seamen who were abducted in Somalia have been released without any intervention from the Philippine government, Conejos said.
"We coordinate the actions of foreign governments, the local manning agencies in the Philippines and the latter's foreign principals in our collective efforts towards the early and safe release of the Filipino crew," said the official.
The Philippines is the world's leading supplier of crew, with over 350,000 sailors manning oil tankers, luxury liners and passenger vessels worldwide.
Courtesy: BERNAMA
US NAVY IN COMMAND OF PIRATE SITUATION
Maersk Line confirmed that the crew had retaken control of the hijacked ship
Pirates who attempted to hijack a US-flagged, Danish-owned container ship off the coast of Somalia have been repelled by the vessel's 20-strong US crew.
But the pirates, who attempted the hijack about 450km off the coast of Somalia on Wednesday, managed to capture the captain Richard Phillips and were holding him hostage.
The high seas standoff caused Hillary
Clinton, the US secretary of state, to express concern and call on the world to "come together to end the scourge of piracy".
Early on Thursday, the US Navy warship Bainbridge arrived on the scene and was near the 17,000-tonne Maersk Alabama as crew members negotiated with the pirates for the return of the captain.
Half a dozen other ships that had been patrolling the area, but were hours away when the hijacking occurred, were heading to the scene.
The pirates had earlier seized the ship, but the unarmed crew managed to retake the vessel as the pirates got into a lifeboat with the captain.
The hijacking was the first involving an American crew off the Horn of Africa.
Courtesy: Al Jazeera
Pirates who attempted to hijack a US-flagged, Danish-owned container ship off the coast of Somalia have been repelled by the vessel's 20-strong US crew.But the pirates, who attempted the hijack about 450km off the coast of Somalia on Wednesday, managed to capture the captain Richard Phillips and were holding him hostage.
The high seas standoff caused Hillary
Clinton, the US secretary of state, to express concern and call on the world to "come together to end the scourge of piracy".Early on Thursday, the US Navy warship Bainbridge arrived on the scene and was near the 17,000-tonne Maersk Alabama as crew members negotiated with the pirates for the return of the captain.
Half a dozen other ships that had been patrolling the area, but were hours away when the hijacking occurred, were heading to the scene.
The pirates had earlier seized the ship, but the unarmed crew managed to retake the vessel as the pirates got into a lifeboat with the captain.
The hijacking was the first involving an American crew off the Horn of Africa.
Courtesy: Al Jazeera
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