Somali pirates free fishing vessel

2-9-2006

Somali pirates have released one of four fishing boats from Taiwan, China hijacked last year off the Horn of Africa nation's coast, a maritime official confirmed on Friday.

The Chung Yi 218 ship and two other vessels, the Cheng Ching Feng and Hsin Lien Feng 36, were seized separately on August 16, while the Feng Rong 16 was hijacked in November, said Andrew Mwangura, program coordinator of Mombasa-based Kenya Seafarers Association.

"One of the Taiwanese fishing vessels Cung Yi 218 was released on Thursday but her three sister ships are still under captivity," Mwangura said by telephone.

There have been numerous attacks by pirates off Somalia, in some of the most dangerous waters in the world.

The U.S. Navy said last week it had captured suspected pirates and seized arms from a ship off the Somali coast.

The four vessels carried a total of 62 crew members, including those from the Chinese Mainland, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.

The International Maritime Bureau says the waters off Somalia remained extremely dangerous, with 36 incidents reported since mid-March last year and advised merchant vessels to remain at least 200 nautical miles from the coast.

Taiwanese fishermen began fishing in waters near Kismaayo port, southwest of Mogadishu, in 1988 after entering into an agreement with a Somali warlord who then controlled the port.

The August incident was the first time Taiwanese vessels were hijacked by the pirates who are rife along the Somali coastline.

An increase in piracy off the Indian Ocean coast of Somalia has made these waters the most dangerous for pirate activities in the world.

Shipping companies say the area has overtaken those traditionally plagued by piracy such as the Straits of Malacca in Southeast Asia.

The pirates generally use speedboats to steal trading goods or food aid -- sometimes impounding ships and crew at gunpoint and then demanding ransoms before they are released.

Somali clan leaders last December signed an agreement to try to end over two decades of factional fighting in the country, and they say they have also made attempts to address the piracy problem.

But the high level of lawlessness off the long eastern Somali coastline reflects the level of chaos there has been on the ground in the country for more than a generation.

Source: Xinhua