Pirates hijack British tanker in sea ‘safety’ zone

[Turborama]

Source: The Times (UK)

A British-flagged chemical tanker with 26 crew has been seized by the same group of pirates that have held the British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler hostage since late October.

The gang boarded the 14,000-tonne MV St James Park on Monday in the internationally recognised transit corridor, a supposedly safe zone for shipping through the Gulf of Aden that is protected by international naval forces.

“We have hijacked a ship with British flag in the Gulf of Aden,” the pirate commander Mohammed Shakir told The Times by phone from the coastal town of Garacad where he was waiting for his associates to return from the high seas. “We have captured the ship and no shots were fired and no casualties,” he said.

Mr Shakir is a member of the Hawiye clan that dominates piracy in southern Somalia. A Hawiye pirate group of which Mr Shakir is a member has demanded £4.5 million for the safe release of the Chandlers, who have been held for more than two months. The British couple, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, were seized while sailing off the Seychelles.

Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article6970307.ece

---

[opihimoimoi]

1. That this is still on going is ludicrous....them Bushies let this go for too long

[Sherman A1]

2. I don't see this ending well for the Pirates

something about British Naval Traditions and such.

[daleo]

3. Wait until Captain Lucky Jack Aubrey gets there

They won't stand a chance.

[MercutioATC]

4. Even the Sophie could take a few inflatables...

I don't know how oak stands up to rocket launchers, though.

[hayu_lol]

5. Wait till the pirates come alongside...

and then drop 9 pounder shot into them.

Amazing what people read around here... :^)

[MercutioATC]

6. The entire series. Five times.

I reread them every 18 months or so :)

[daleo]

7. Desolation Island was my most recent

Though I have read one or two ahead of it, out of sequence. Addictive stuff.