Somali pirates seize Ukrainian ship carrying T-72 tanks!

[link to news.bbc.co.uk]


Page last updated at 09:24 GMT, Friday, 26 September 2008 10:24 UK


Somali pirates 'seize 30 tanks'
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Pirates off the coast of Somalia have seized a Ukrainian ship carrying T-72 tanks, an official has said.

Ukraine's foreign ministry said the ship had a crew of 21 and was sailing under a Belize flag to the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

A report from Russia's Interfax news agency said earlier that the ship had a cargo of about 30 tanks, as well as spare parts for armoured vehicles.

There has been a recent surge in piracy off the coast of Somalia.

Somali pirates are currently holding more than a dozen hijacked ships in the base in Eyl, a town in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland.

It was not immediately clear where the Ukrainian ship had been taken.

Speed boats

Andrew Mwngura, who runs the Kenya chapter of the Seafarers Assistance Programme, confirmed to the BBC that the ship was carrying a cargo of tanks.

The tanks were to be transported by road from Kenya to South Sudan.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry said the ship's captain had reported being surrounded by three boats of armed men on Thursday afternoon.

Insurgents in Somalia, not known to have links to the pirates, are currently battling a combination of government troops, their Ethiopian allies and African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu and other parts of southern Somalia.

The country has not had an effective national government for 17 years, leading to a collapse of law and order both on land and the sea.

The US has an anti-terror task force based in neighbouring Djibouti and has carried out several air strikes against the Islamist insurgents, accusing them of sheltering al-Qaeda operatives.