Somalian pirates hijack ship first time since 2012

Nairobi, March 14: Pirates have hijacked a Sri Lankan-flagged oil tanker, a Somali official said on Tuesday, the first time they have successfully taken a commercial ship since 2012.

The Aris 13 sent a distress call on Monday, turned off its tracking system and altered course for the Somali port town of Alula, said John Steed of the aid group Oceans Beyond Piracy.

“The pirates hijacked the oil tanker and they brought it near Alula,” Mohamud Ahmed Eynab, the district commissioner for Alula, said on Tuesday.

Pirates in the town confirmed they were expecting the ship. The tanker was believed to have eight crew on board, said Mr Steed, an expert on piracy who is in contact with naval forces tracking the ship.

“The ship reported it was being followed by two skiffs on Monday. Then it disappeared,” he said.

Aircraft from regional naval force EU Nav for were flying overhead to track the ship’s progress and to try to determine what was happening, he said. Data from Reuters systems showed it made a sharp about turn just after it passed the Horn of Africa on its voyage from Djibouti to Mogadishu.

The 1,800 deadweight tonne Aris 13 is owned by Panama company Armi Shipping and managed by Aurora Ship Management in the United Arab Emirates, according to the Equasis shipping data website, managed by the French transport ministry.

The ship was being monitored by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organisation (UKMTO), which coordinates the management of all merchant ships and yachts in the Gulf of Aden area, the head of the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur, Noel Choong, said.