Somali pirates hijacked the Iranian fishing trawler to use it as a floating base for further attacks. About it reports Reuters.
“They expect to use the ship to attack larger, more valuable ships,” said Ali Shire, the mayor of the city Habo, located in the Northern semi-Autonomous region of Puntland in the country.
The attack happened on may 22. The fate of the crew is not reported.
On 3 April it became known that the current in the horn of Africa pirates have seized an Indian cargo ship. March 14, pirates attacked the tanker Aris 13, marching under the flag of Sri Lanka. They tried to take him to the port Kalula, but was intercepted by the marine police of Puntland. After the shooting began negotiations, and eventually the pirates left, taking the ransom.
This attack was the first reported attack on a cargo ship in 2012. In previous years, the pirates of Somalia, where a civil war nearly paralyzed shipping in the Gulf of Aden. In 2011 year, there were 237 attacks on merchant ships, losses from their actions amounted to more than seven billion dollars. However, after international forces began constant patrols in the area, the attack stopped.