NAIROBI - PIRATES hijacked a ship carrying a poisonous chemical
used in antifreeze early on Monday off the northern tip of Somalia
and took the 19 Chinese sailors onboard hostage, officials
said.
The Singaporean-flagged Golden Blessing was seized inside the
internationally recommended transit corridor in the Gulf of Aden
that is patrolled by the anti-piracy naval coalition, said Lt Co
Per Klingvall, a spokesman for the European Union's anti-piracy
force.
All 19 crew are reported to be safe, he said. The ship was
reported to be on its way from Saudi Arabia to India.
Col Klingvall said the 14,445-ton chemical tanker was carrying a
cargo of glycol ethylene - which is used in antifreeze - when it
was captured approximately 95km off the northern Somali coast. The
vessel was moving toward the Somali coast after the hijacking.
Pirates rarely steal or damage the cargo of the ships they take,
instead holding crews for multimillion-dollar ransoms.
The ship hijacked Monday is owned by Golden Pacific
International Holdings Ltd and is chartered out to Shanghai
Dingheng Shipping Co Ltd. In a statement, the Singapore Maritime
and Port Authority said it 'is working with relevant government
agencies and the ship owner, and is monitoring the situation
closely'. Somali pirates hold more than a dozen ships and several
hundred crew members.
-- AP
