Somali pirates seize Panamanian freighter: EU
August 2, 2010 07:03 pm
Brussels, August 2 (AFP): Somali pirates seized today a Panamanian freighter with 23 crew from Egypt, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Gulf of Aden, European anti-piracy forces said.
Early in the morning, the freighter indicated it was captured “under small arms fire from a pirate attack and minutes later she reported pirates on board,” the European Union NAVFOR Somalia mission said in a statement.
A helicopter was despatched “but pirates had already taken over the command of the vessel,” it added of the 17,300-tonne freighter.
Attempts to make contact with the vessel failed, the statement added.
Foreign naval powers have since 2008 deployed dozens of warships in a bid to secure the Gulf of Aden, a crucial maritime route leading to the Suez Canal through which tens of thousands of merchant vessels transit each year.