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Sat, May 26 2012
Somali pirates hijack Bulgarian chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden
Somali pirates hijacked the Bulgarian chemical tanker Panega in the Gulf of Aden on May 11 with 15 crew members on board, all Bulgarian nationals, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
According to initial reports, the tanker was headed from the Red Sea en route to Pakistan. Naval forces in the region were trying to establish contact with the vessel, the report said.
"This afternoon, 11th of May, a Bulgaria flagged ship, Panega, was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden approximately 100 nautical miles east of Aden (Yemen)," a statement from the European Union naval detachment said.
"The ship was on route from the Red Sea to India when she was attacked by pirates."
The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, Defence Ministry and Transport Ministry have set up an emergency task group to access the situation, according to the statement.
There are two other tankers held captive by Somali pirates, Asian Glory and St James Park with 13 other Bulgarian nationals, making it a total of 28 captives.
Asian Glory, a UK-flagged ship, was reportedly ferrying cars off the Somali coast when she was boarded by pirates late on January 1 2010. This was the second seizure in five days of a ship managed by the British Zodiac.
Earlier, 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 that it had been attacked and boarded by pirates. Five of its crew members are Bulgarian.
According to initial reports, the tanker was headed from the Red Sea en route to Pakistan. Naval forces in the region were trying to establish contact with the vessel, the report said.
"This afternoon, 11th of May, a Bulgaria flagged ship, Panega, was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden approximately 100 nautical miles east of Aden (Yemen)," a statement from the European Union naval detachment said.
"The ship was on route from the Red Sea to India when she was attacked by pirates."
The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, Defence Ministry and Transport Ministry have set up an emergency task group to access the situation, according to the statement.
There are two other tankers held captive by Somali pirates, Asian Glory and St James Park with 13 other Bulgarian nationals, making it a total of 28 captives.
Asian Glory, a UK-flagged ship, was reportedly ferrying cars off the Somali coast when she was boarded by pirates late on January 1 2010. This was the second seizure in five days of a ship managed by the British Zodiac.
Earlier, 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 that it had been attacked and boarded by pirates. Five of its crew members are Bulgarian.
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Somali pirates strike again, hijacking a Greek ship
The Greek vessel Eleni P was boarded and hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden.
Somali intelligence network falters as pirates target the wrong tanker
The vessel was empty and on its way to Karachi to be cut to pieces for scrap.
Istanbul venue for high-level conference on Somalia and piracy
UN Secretary-General among those to attend May 22 conference co-hosted by UN and Turkish government, a few weeks after the UN Security Council proposed setting up special international tribunals to try pirates.
Skipper of abducted by Somali pirates Asian Glory vanishes
The situation is similar to St James Park, the second Zodiac ship boarded by the Somalis. Although Zodiac Maritime Agency constantly assures that everything is done for the swift release of the ship and crew, the skipper was also led away on March 6
Somali pirates seize Turkish vessel off the coast of India
The attack occurred about 1850 km east of the northern Somali coast, and about 650km outside the defensive perimeter set up by the naval security force
EU to step up operation against pirates
EU defence ministers agreed to expand Operation Atalanta against piracy in the Indian Ocean and the bloc will begin training Somalia's security forces.
Abducted Asian Glory sets sail south of the Somali coast
Asian Glory, boarded by pirates off the Somali coast on January 1 2010, has eight Bulgarian crew members.
Somali pirates demand $15M ransom for Asian Glory
The sum includes ship's insurance and cargo. Meanwhile, the chemical tanker St James Park was allegedly valued at "only three million dollars"
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.
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This should be handled through the European rapid reaction force.
Don't you think by now they have enough money to make sure they can get "new" boats? They should do something to take away the reason for them doing this, maybe send some food or education could help. if not plant some trees to h*ng them from after they are captured to teach them a lesson that crime doesn't pay.
Why don't all the countries involved just put the pirates out of business? Just go in and destroy their ships and boats.
why don't the bulgars ask the russians to intervene...!?
what naval forces dude? Bulgaria's navy is smaller than Switzerland's.
Dam this sucks, i say send the naval forces