Somali Pirates capture second merchant vessel in 24h

Somali pirates have struck again, this time hijacking a British Virgin Islands-owned cargo ship MV TALCA, a reefer (refrigerated cargo) with nearly hals a million cubic meter cold storage.

The British managed 11,055 dwt Bermudan-flagged freighter, which had been heading from Sokhna in Egypt to Bushier in Iran, was hijacked approximately 120 nautical miles off the coast of Oman and 180 miles south of Mazera, near the Gulf of Aden.

The pirates struck after the cargo ship just had passed through an international recommended transit corridor and when it was 60 miles from the easternmost limits of the 1.5 million square miles (3.9 million square kilometres) area patrolled by around 35 warships from the European Union Naval Force, NATO, the U.S. Combined Maritime Forces and other navies.

The EU naval force confirmed the capture in a statement and said that EU NAVFOR will continue to monitor the situation.

The crew of 23 Sri Lankans, one Filipino and one Syrian sailor is held hostage on vessels.

Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said the local agent ALF Shipping (Pvt) Ltd had told him the members of the crew were in good health.

He also said the ministry had asked the Sri Lankan High Commissions in Oman and Kenya to look into the matter and that a report with the names and other details of the crew members was expected today.

Sri Lanka has no foreign mission in Bermuda. If the cargo ship belongs to Bermuda, there will be a technical problem to handle the matter, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

The vessel is owned by a British Virgin Islands shipping company - Arabian Reefers Ltd.

Somali pirates usually capture exclusively for ransom payments, which are regularly made.

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