Seized Ship with Lankans heads to Somalian Coast

by Rasika Somarathna

MV CHARELLE seized by Somali pirates last Friday off the Omani coast with seven Sri Lankans on board, including the captain, was heading towards the Somalian coast yesterday, reportedly with none of the crew harmed.

The local agent of the New Zealand owned shipping company said the journey of the vessel is being closely monitored and the ship was expected to reach the Somalian coast within the next 48 hours.

He said the mother company in New Zealand was maintaining close links with the authorities including Somalian officials and everything is being done to get the crew released unharmed at the earliest possible time.

No ransom demand has been forwarded as yet by pirates, he added.
According to him, seven of the 10 member crew are Sri Lankans including the Captain E.M.G. Bandara from Rakwana. The rest are First Officer Indika Ruwan, chief engineer Anton Seneviratne, chief cook Sunil Amerasinghe and Ajith Amerasinghe, Ananda Perera and Lakshman Perera. Meanwhile, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said they were maintaining close links with relevant authorities including Somalian officials through relevant missions abroad and was taking all possible measures to get the Lankans aboard released unharmed.

He said the Ministry had got in touch with the Somalian authorities through the Kenyan High Commission and was also maintaining a close dialogue with the Shipping company in New Zealand through their High Commission in Canberra.

The Ministry official expressed disappointment over the delay in reporting the incident to them by the local agent. He said the Ministry got involved in the matter after coming to know about the incident through other sources including the media.

When inquired, the local agent said they had taken steps to notify the Director General of Merchant Shipping first, as they were their immediate contact.

The German-owned vessel MV CHARELLE was captured shortly after the ship left a Hadramout port.The General Manger of Link for Oil and Gas Services Emad Al-Muliki told Al-Sahwa Net that Somali pirates hijacked the ship in Oman’s water as it was on its way to Jabal Ali Port in the United Arab Emirates. The ship which was boarding pipelines of Link Company was forced at the point of guns to drive towards the Somalia coast.

According to the Security Media Center at Yemen's Ministry of Interior, the Yemeni oil tanker MT AL-MASILAH was forced to change its route after being attacked by Somali pirates as the ship was heading to Bab Al-Mandab Strait. The coastguard guard sources stated they had received a SOS from the Yemeni ship Al-Masilah, some 24 nautical miles from Bab Al-Mandab Strait, adding the crew managed to escape the hijacking attack and none of the crew was harmed.

Source:Ecoterra, June 17, 2009

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