Somali Pirates seize Dutch Ship

Somali pirates sea-jacked the Netherlands Antilles-flagged MV MARATHON, a Dutch ship with a crew of eight Ukrainian sailors on board, in the Gulf of Aden on Thursday, a regional maritime group said and the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry confirmed the report as well as the ship's owner-manager, Cargadoor Amons & Co. and ISM manager Marathon.

According to the Ukrainian Embassy in the Netherlands, the crew includes eight sailors and all of them are Ukrainians. "The crew are said to be safe," said Andrew Mwangura, of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers Assistance Program. The 2,575-tonne "Marathon" with coke (coal-derivative) was heading westbound through the Gulf of Aden when it was seized, he said.

The Dutch ship-operating company and the Dutch Embassy in Ukraine have confirmed the seizure of the vessel too. Vessel is not covered by ITF Agreement. The Ukrainian ministry has ordered Ukraine's embassies in the Netherlands and Kenya to investigate the incident and establish contact with the owner of the ship and its operator to aid the "swift release" of Ukrainian nationals, the statement said. Ukraine had to solve the case of the still mysterious weapons-ship MV FAINA, which took them 134 days. MV Marathon, sporting as registered owner in the Netherlands Antilles a company called Western Marine Transport NV, was seized on Thursday some 185 kilometers (115 miles) southeast of the Yemeni port of Mukalla, the Ukrainian Embassy in the Netherlands said. In a similar incident, a Ukrainian cargo ship was seized by Somali pirates in September 2008.

The Faina with the crew of 17 Ukrainians, two Russians and one Latvian was only released in February after the pirates received a reported $3.2 million ransom. The ship's Russian captain, Vladimir Kolobov died of a heart attack soon after the ship was seized. Pirates are increasingly active in the waters off Somalia, which has no central government and no navy to police its coastline.

Source: Ecoterra, May 8, 2009

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