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Second UK-flagged ship with Bulgarian crew hijacked off Somali coast

Sat, Jan 02 2010 13:51 CET

byAlex Bivol

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Second UK-flagged ship with Bulgarian crew hijacked off Somali coast

The St James Park, a UK-flagged chemical tanker is seen on the River Thames at Northfleet in Essex, southern England in this handout photograph dated October 4 2009, made available in London and released to Reuters on December 29 2009.

A UK-flagged ship with Bulgarian crew members, reportedly ferrying cars off the Somali coast, was hijacked by pirates late on January 1 2010, Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said.

The Asian Glory was boarded out at sea, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Dragovest Goranov told Focus news agency. According to Reuters, the hijacking happened about 1000km east of the Somali coast.

Eight of the ship's crew of 25, including its captain, were Bulgarians, shipping company Zodiac said, as quoted by Focus. Other crew members include Romanians, Indians and Ukrainians, reports said.

The 45 000-ton ship was ferrying cars from Singapore to Jeddah on the Red Sea coast of the Saudi Arabia.

"One of the sailors managed to call the British management company and say the ship was hijacked, but that the crew were in good health and were not injured," Prodan Radanov, Zodiac's manager in Varna, was quoted as saying by Bulgarian news agency BTA.

This was the second instance in five days that a ship managed by Zodiac, a British company with an office in Bulgaria, was seized by Somali pirates.

St James Park, a chemicals tanker, and its crew of 26 were sailing to Thailand from Spain with a chemical used to make plastics when it sent a distress signal from the Gulf of Aden on December 28 2009. Five of its crew members are Bulgarian.

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Comments

Anonymous Aries Sat, Jan 02 2010 18:00 CET
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If the international community continues patting their heads
don't expect any good news.
Under the auspices of the UN
Securiy Council.
measure to be taken is Operation
SEEK AND DESTROY BY AXE AND BY FIRE right into their homeland
wether Aden or Somalia.

Anonymous Jeff Moore Sat, Jan 02 2010 14:36 CET
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Even Team America World Police seem powerless to stop this Somalia piracy.


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Call for broad-based strategy against piracy on Somalia's coast

The current situation shows that a solely sea-based approach has its limits, a senior UN official says.

Abducted Bulgarian sailors reportedly in good condition

Bulgarian sailors aboard the Asian Glory and St James Park are reportedly alive and well. Negotiations for their release are pending

UK-flagged tanker with five Bulgarian sailors on board hijacked by Somali prates - report

The St James Park and its crew of 26 were sailing to Thailand from Spain when on December 18 2009 it sent a distress signal from the Gulf of Aden

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