NAIROBI (AFP) — Pirates have hijacked two freighters off Somalia, bringing to three the number of vessels seized in the same region this week, a Kenyan maritime official said on Thursday.
MV Arean and MV Lehmann Timber were seized in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday near a position where another vessel was seized over the weekend, said Andrew Mwangura of the Kenyan branch of the Seafarers' Assistance Programme.
"We have confirmed that the pirates are onboard the two vessels, but we have not received any demands for ransom," he told AFP.
Mwangura said they were yet to receive information about the crew, the vessels' ports of origin and destination.
He said the Turkey-flagged MC Arean was owned by Arkia Company of Malta, but had no information on the MV Lehmann.
On Sunday, hijackers took control of Dutch-owned MV Amiya Scan along with its nine Russian and Filipino crew in the same region that has seen a string of attacks recently.
"Since Sunday, three other ships were attacked but managed to escape," Mwangura said.
The International Maritime Bureau (IBM) urged vessels sailing in the Gulf of Aden to take precautionary measures and maintain a strict 24 hour anti-piracy watch.
"Pirates are firing automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades in an attempt to board and hijack vessels," the bureau said an alert on the region issued Wednesday.
The waters off Somalia, which has not had an effective central government for more than 17 years, are considered to be among the most dangerous in the world.
According to the IBM, more than 25 ships were seized off Somalia's 3,700 kilometres (2,300 miles) of coastline last year despite patrols by an international force based in Djibouti.
In April, forces of the Somali breakaway region of Puntland rescued a hijacked vessel from the United Arab Emirates. At least one pirate was killed during the raid while seven were arrested and later sentenced to life in prison.
In the same month, pirates seized a French luxury yacht with its crew of 30, and later a Spanish fishing boat. Both were released after a week with reports that heavy ransoms were paid.
Such attacks had stopped in the second half of 2006 during six months of strict rule by Islamist militants, who were ousted by Ethiopian and Somali government troops in early 2007. Then piracy resumed.
But over recent months, a multinational Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa (CTF 150), based in Djibouti and charged with fighting terrorism across the volatile region, has upped surveillance in the pirate-infested waters.
France and the United States are pushing the UN Security Council to pass a resolution that would allow nations to send warships to Somalia to combat piracy.
Technically, the 1992 United Nations arms embargo on Somalia bars foreign navies and warships from accessing Somalia waters, but some nations have nontheless violated it.
Islamist militants who have regained strength in Somalia have vowed to resume fighting pirates, whose activities have disrupted maritime activities including delivery of aid by sea.
Somalia, which lies at the mouth of the Red Sea, has been without an effective government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre sparked a bloody power struggle.
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