Somali pirates promised to release an unidentified merchant ship hijacked near the capital, Mogadishu.
“We decided to free the merchant ship” when it reaches the coast, Muse Salad, a pirate spokesman, said today by telephone. “The ship carries foodstuffs like rice, flour, sugar and building materials.”
The vessel was under way from the United Arab Emirates to Mogadishu when it was seized, Ali Mohamed Siyad, a market traders’ chief at Bakara, Somalia, said by telephone.
The crew is Asian, including Indians, and the cargo is “owned by Somali businesspeople,” he said.
Somali pirates hijacked a Pakistani-owned ship, the MV Al- Misan, Friday off the coast near Mogadishu, Agence France-Presse reported today, citing pirate commander Ahmed Abdi.
The French navy captured 11 suspected Somali pirates today, AFP also said, citing its reporter on board the frigate.
Separately, the Seychelles Coast Guard apprehended three gunmen, Andrew Mwangura, an official of the East Africa Seafarers’ Assistance Program, said in a phone interview from Kenya.
To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Verschuur in Zurich pverschuur@bloomberg.net
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