Tonight:
5°c
British guards jump from tanker to escape pirates
Georgina Littlejohn28 Nov 2008
THREE British security guards jumped overboard from a tanker when the vessel was attacked by Somali pirates.
The men were part of the crew of the Liberian-flagged chemical tanker sailing just off the coast of Somalia when the pirates struck.
They leapt into the sea to escape and were later picked up by helicopters that had been sent from a nearby warship.
Two Bangladeshis and 25 Indians are still on board the tanker which operates out of Singapore and is the 97th vessel to come under pirate attack this year in the Gulf of Aden.
The ship's captain sent a distress call to the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre in Malaysia, which relayed the alert to international forces that have been policing Somali waters this year.
Diplomats said the warship had been on patrol nearby when it picked up the distress and sent the helicopters to intervene in the attack, but they arrived after the pirates had taken control of the tanker.
There were no immediate details about how the pirates attacked or the condition of the crew.
Andrew Mwangura, East Africa's coordinator of the Seafarers Assistance Program, confirmed that the seized vessel originally had 30 people, mostly Indians, onboard.
He said: "I received the report of the hijack today and I have not established the name of the vessel and where it was sailing to and when exactly the tanker was seized." The latest hijacking comes almost two weeks after pirates seized the Sirius Star, a Saudi supertanker loaded with two million barrels of oil worth an estimated £68 million.
The ship, with two Britons on board, has been in limbo since it was seized on 15 November. It is the most prized asset ever seized by pirates, who are demanding a ransom of almost £10million.
Somali pirates have been increasingly brazen in the Gulf off the coast of Somalia. The major international shipping lane has about 20 tankers sailing along the route daily.
Somalia has been caught up in an Islamic insurgency and has had no functioning government since 1991. Pirates are currently holding 15 ships, with nearly 300 crew, and are demanding multi-million-pound ransoms.
Reader views (8)
You have a cancerous growth, you cut it out...do the same NOW with the pirates and end the problem.
- Tony House, New Plymouth,New Zealand, 20/12/2008 20:13
Report abuse
I see you conveniently forgot to mention the two Britons were picked up by those nasty Germans and deposited onto a French Frigate for forward transportation. Nelson would be so ashamed!
- Mark Schreiber, Tonbridge, Kent, 30/11/2008 10:30
Report abuse
The terrorists are misguided by pseudo principles and anybody sympathasing are just as misguided, but may be, at least they are doing it for what they wrongly believe in. What those pirates are doing is sheer greed! How can the international community tolerate it? They have been too slow for a coordinated positive action.
Talking of UNO seems a little bizaire too --- worried about the gangsters taking them to court? Who will cry if they go offensive and drown those lawless pirates in their own deep sea? Don’t they realize that ships going round the Cape to avoid this notorious gang will increase their import cost? What is Egypt doing? Aren't they losing revenue?
I suggest that to start with, the merchant ships should go in convoys, escorted by frigates coordinated by the main maritime nations.
- Syed Sakhawat Husain, Acton, London, UK, 29/11/2008 11:56
Report abuse
ha ha ha!!! this is so funny!!
- John, Lille, France / Hull, UK, 28/11/2008 20:49
Report abuse
So that's what 'Jump ship' means.
- Jim, Auckland, New Zealand., 28/11/2008 19:02
Report abuse
Come on answer Andy!
- Frank, BONCATH WALES, 28/11/2008 17:30
Report abuse
Will they still be putting in their invoice for 'security'?
- Steve, SW18, 28/11/2008 16:05
Report abuse
Those security guards were clearly worth their weight in sea water - weren' they supposed to protect the ship?
- Andy, London, 28/11/2008 14:54
Report abuse
