Somali pirates end monsoon lull with hijacks, attack | Markets | Reuters

Somali pirates end monsoon lull with hijacks, attack | Markets | Reuters

NAIROBI, July 13 (Reuters) - Somali pirates seized two ships over the weekend and used one to attack an oil tanker in a flurry of activity in the Gulf of Aden ending a monsoon season lull, maritime officials said on Monday.

The pirates seized a dhow, called "Nefya", on Saturday to use as a mother-ship, said Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program. It was unknown how many crew were on board or the Nefya's nationality.



On Sunday, pirates hijacked an Indian dhow carrying camels, sheep and cattle away from north Somalia, said Captain Awad Salim, harbour master at Mukalla port, Yemen. There were 15 Indian crew members on board.

Then on Monday, the Nefya was used for a failed attack on the 265,000-tonne, Liberian-flagged oil tanker, according to the European naval force, Atalanta.

Pirates in two skiffs, operating with the Nefya, opened fire on the "A Elephant" at dawn in waters between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, according to Mwangura and the European Union anti-piracy force's Lieutenant Commander Daniel Auwermann.

HELICOPTER THWARTS ATTACK

The merchant vessel was slightly damaged but escaped after the attack was thwarted by a helicopter from Atalanta's French warship ACONIT, Auwermann told Reuters by telephone.

The weekend attacks came after another dhow was taken on Friday, and a Turkish ship was hijacked earlier last week.

Maritime groups say the pirates had been keeping a lower profile for more than a month due to monsoon rains.

Cyrus Mody, manager of the International Maritime Bureau, said wind and high waves from the region's monsoon, lasting from early June until the end of August, hampered the pirates, who generally operate from small twin-engine fishing skiffs.

"The presence of foreign navies is also being felt and the robust actions of merchant ships are acting as a deterrent," Mody said, referring to international anti-piracy patrols and extra security measures taken by ship crews.

A Somali pirate, who called himself Duran, told Reuters his gang had taken the Indian dhow with its 15-man crew and 100 head of livestock to the island of Raas-Harfoon, off Somalia. But the hijacking was a mistake, he said, and the boat would be quickly released.

"All the livestock onboard belong to Somali businessmen and we have excluded Somali business and humanitarian shipments from attacks," he said.

Somali pirates have carried out 148 attacks this year, hijacking about 30 boats, according to the IMB. That compares to 111 attacks and 42 hijackings in 2008, which was the worst year for piracy off the lawless Horn of Africa state.

About 17 ships are still being held, with 191 mariners held hostage, according to Mwangura's group.

Not all hijacks, however, are known about.