HIJACKED SHIP ABANDONED BY PIRATES

A Lebanese-registered ship hijacked off the coast of war-torn Yemen has been freed, says a shipping expert.

The suspected Somali pirates who boarded the ship Saturday abandoned it Sunday before naval forces rescued the ship, Mohamed Abdirahman, former director of Puntland’s marine forces, told The Associated Press.

The pirates were unable to take the crew hostage because they locked themselves in a safe room said Abdirahman. No pirates were arrested and i nternational naval forces are now escorting the ship, he said.

The hijacked ship hijacked off the coast of wartorn Yemen is a cargo vessel owned by a Lebanon- registered company, a United Nations agency confirmed Sunday. The hijacking was the latest in a resurgence of piracy in the waters off Somalia and Yemen, one of the world’s crucial sea trade routes.

Somali pirates in recent weeks have hijacked at least two vessels with foreign crews in the waters off Somalia and Yemen, marking a return of the threat after five years.

In March, Somali pirates hijacked a Comoros- flagged oil tanker, marking the first such seizure of a large commercial vessel since 2012. They later released the vessel and its Sri Lankan crew without conditions.