Somali pirates seize ship; 21 Americans aboard AP

Somali pirates seize ship; 21 Americans aboard
AP


NAIROBI, Kenya – Somali pirates on Wednesday hijacked a U.S.-flagged cargo ship with 21 crew members aboard, a diplomat and a U.S. Navy spokesman said.

The Kenya-based diplomat identified the vessel as the 17,000-ton Maersk Alabama and said all the crew members are American. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The U.S. Navy confirmed that a U.S. flagged ship with 21 members of crew was hijacked early Wednesday off the eastern coast of Somalia.

Spokesman Lt. Nathan Christensen said the attacked happened in the early hours of the morning hours, about 280 miles (450 kilometers) northeast of Eyl, a town in the northern Puntland region of Somalia.

Christensen said there were U.S. citizens aboard the ship, but he did not say how many. He declined to release the name of the ship until the family members of the crew are notified.

He said the ship was operated by the Danish company Maersk, which deals with the U.S. Department of Defense. Christensen said the vessel was not working under a Pentagon contract when hijacked.

Maersk Kenya Managing Director Rolf Nielsen said the company was still verifying reports of the hijacking. An U.S. embassy spokeswoman was not immediately able to confirm the incident.

Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program said the ship was taken about 400 miles (640 kilometers) from the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

The vessel is the sixth to be seized within a week and the first with an all-American crew.

hmmm we all know that the ISPS code and all trainings related to it were because of the attack on 9/11 (USA), the Exxon Valdez triggered the OPA 90 and its Marpol annexes and now this event.... Hmm what do you think would the USA would propose now to the global community and the authority (IMO) to stop this from happening again?

hmmm maybe advanced SSO!

As i have read before from some int'l maritime mags...the U.S. navy participating in Somalia are suggesting that ships transiting on this known areas must have there own security onboard...people hired to be as somewhat called "security guards" ....on board....having guns onboard are not encourage because of previous experiences wherein innocent lives are compromise....they are also suggesting that commercial ships should equip themselves with anti-pirate gadgets which could produce sound (equipments like in the navy ship) preventing suspicious craft from getting near.
But at the moment i haven't read anything regarding making laws for these.
Shipping companies are looking on the alternate route which is the Cape of Good Hope (south-Africa) instead of passing to Aden.
Yun lng ang alam ko s ngaun....