Suspected Somali pirates have hijacked a German-owned cargo ship off the coast of the Gulf state of Oman, marking the first such incident in the region, said officials on Friday.
A spokesman for NATO said that the ship was hijacked 60 nautical miles south of Sur on the Omani coast, adding that it is the first recorded pirate attack in the area. He said that the ship is currently heading southwest towards Somalia.
The latest hijack came just hours after NATO defense ministers decided to deploy a new task force consisting of six ships off the coast of Somalia in July to counter the increasing pirate attacks there.
The decision to deploy the new NATO task force, which will be known as Standing Maritime Force 2, comes as the mandate of the existing NATO anti-piracy mission off Somalia expires on 28th June.
The Gulf of Aden, which is one of the world's busiest sea lanes, has been affected by piracy in the recent months and more than a hundred pirate attacks have been reported in the waters off Somalia since the beginning of 2008. Generally, the crew and the vessels are returned unharmed on receiving the demanded ransom.
The pirate attacks off the Somali coast have escalated in the recent weeks despite the presence of some 20 warships, deployed by navies of the NATO, the European Union, Russia, China, South Korea and India, in the region to protect cargo and cruise ships against piracy in the region.
Also, the UN Security Council has approved four resolutions since June to promote the international efforts to fight the escalating piracy problem off the coast of Somalia, and has authorized counties engaged in anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast to conduct land and air attacks on Somali pirates after obtaining prior permission from the Somali government.
Source: RTT News
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