Somali Pirates Release Hijacked Food Aid Ship

Somali Pirates Release Hijacked Food Aid Ship



   
April 2007 - Calling for action to 
curb piracy in Somali waters, the world's largest humanitarian 
food relief agency welcomed the release of a hijacked ship 
used for carrying food aid which had been intercepted in 
February off the coast of the Puntland semi-autonomous region 
in Somalia's northeast. 
The UN World Food Programme said this is the third ship it 
contracted to deliver food that has been hijacked in Somali 
waters in the past two years. 
The MV Rozen and its crew of six Kenyans and six Sri Lankans 
had completed its contract with the World Food Programme by 
delivering 1,800 metric tons of food from Mombasa, Kenya to 
Bossaso in Somalia when it was hijacked on February 25. 
"WFP welcomes the release after 40 days of the MV Rozen," said 
the agency's Somalia Country Director Peter Goossenvironment news,
 thanking 
elders in Puntland for their mediation efforts in securing the 
ship's release last week. 
Map of Somalia. Puntland is located on the northeast coast. 
(Map courtesy CIA World Factbook)
The MV Rozen was released three kilometers (two miles) off the 
Somali coast near the small seasonal fisherman's settlement of 
Dhigdhiley in Puntland. 
The ship was released on April 2, but news of the ship's 
release was delayed due to security concerns. 
In an initial incident just before its capture, the Rozen was 
making for Somalia with its cargo of food aid when it came 
under attack by five heavily armed pirates operating from a 
small boat. Despite being fired upon, the Rozen managed to 
out-manoeuvre the pirates and rammed the smaller vessel, 
before escaping, according to Ports & Ships news service. 
"The treat of piracy however is still very much alive in 
Somali waters," Goossenvironment news said. He urged the Transitional 
Federal Government of Somalia and authorities in Puntland to 
curtail piracy. 
The Rozen was released simultaneously with the Indian-flagged 
MV Nimatullah, which was carrying more than 725 metric tons of 
cargo, including cooking oil, secondhand clothing and rice. 
A representative of the Seafarers Assistance Program-Kenya 
said a ransom had been paid for the ships' release but he 
could not give the amount. 
This incident has caused reluctance among shippers to carry 
cargos to Somalia, creating delays in delivering much-needed 
food aid to the country, Goossenvironment news said. 
In June 2005, the MV Semlow, the Rozen's sister vessel, was 
hijacked while carrying WFP food supplies and held for more 
than 100 days. Four boatloads of Somali pirates armed with 
machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades boarded the ship.
 The MV Semlow sailing along the Somali coast 
The Semlow with a crew of 10 was on her way from Mombasa to 
Bossaso with 850 tons of rice for tsunami victims in northeast 
Somalia. After 100 days in captivity, the Semlow was released 
on October 3, 2005 at the port of El Maan just north of 
Mogadishu. 
Another ship contracted by WFP, the MV Miltzow, was hijacked 
in October 2005 as it was unloading food aid at the Somali 
port of Merca. It was held for 33 hours before being released.
 Registered in St. Vincent and Grenadines, the Miltzow was in 
the process of being offloaded, when six gunmen stormed the 
ship and forced it to leave Merca. 
An estimated 400 tons of the total cargo of 850 tons of WFP 
food aid remained on board at the time of the hijacking. The 
food aid was bound for the Lower Juba Valley, home to some of 
the most vulnerable people in Somalia, people who have 
repeatedly been affected by droughts and floods. 
The vessel owners are asking for armed escort for future 
voyages into Somali waters with WFP or UN relief commodities. 
WFP Somalia is looking into the possibilities of alternative 
transport routes, including overland from Kenya. 
There has been a recent increase in attacks and hijackings off 
the Southern part of Somalia, particularly off Mogadishu, the 
International Maritime Bureau, IMB, a divison of the 
International Chamber of Commerce, warned Wednesday. 
"The attacks are mainly targeted towards vessels with cargo 
for Somali ports," the IMB said on its website. "Vessels are 
advised to steer well clear of Somalian waters at all times 
and only approach once full clearance to enter the port has 
been received." 
Somalia is gripped by a state of civil war which, since 
warlords ousted a dictatorship in 1991, has divided the 
country into warring entities and autonomist and seccessionist 
regions. 

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