Somali Pirates Hijack Jordanian Vessel Off Mogadishu Shore

Somali pirates on Sunday hijacked a Jordanian ship that was hired by Somali traders to bring 4,500 tonnes of sugar from Bombay in India to Mogadishu port.

This is the latest in a string of such hijacking off the beleaguered Somali coast.

“The ship was carrying sugar for the traders but not humanitarian aid as some international media said yesterday,” said Abas Mohamed Du’ale, spokesman of the Banadir traders committee during a press conference in the main port of Mogadishu.

He appealed to the pirates to free the cargo as it is meant for sale to the Somalis in order to ameliorate the short of commodities in the country.

“This is our cargo and it is about 4,500 tonnes of sugar that we intended to sell to our Somali brothers since there is super inflation in the country and shortage of some imported goods,” Yusuf Mo’alim, one of the traders who is among the owners of the cargo on board the ship told APA.

The ship, the Victoria, was heading from Bombay to the Somali capital carrying the sugar. According to reports, this is the second time that the Victoria has been attacked as pirates tried to board it outside the Somali port of Merka last year but it managed to escape.

Reports say that the ship had crew members from Pakistan, India, Tanzania and Bangladesh when the pirates hijacked it about 40 nautical miles off Mogadishu port.

The International Maritime Bureau has advised vessels that are not making scheduled calls in Somalia to keep a distance of at least 200 nautical miles away from the Somali coast.

Source African Press Agency

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