MADRID – Somali pirates hijacked a Spanish tuna fishing boat in the Indian Ocean, the regional government of the Basque country and a pirate spokesman said yesterday.
European military aircraft flew over the Alakrana when it failed to make a routine call and saw armed men aboard, a spokesman for the Basque government said.
A source in the pirate haven of Haradheere, north of the Somali capital Mogadishu, confirmed the boat had been taken. “Our friends from Kismayu hijacked a fishing boat with its crew late last night,” a pirate who identified himself as Hassan told reporters by phone.
“They are on the way to Haradheere. No warship can stop us.”
The Alakrana, which has a crew of 36, featured in Spanish media reports last week when its captain described how bad weather had helped his vessel escape a previous pirate attack.
Gangs from Somalia – some made up of former fishermen angered by the presence of foreign fishing boats – have made tens of millions of dollars in ransoms by seizing boats in shipping lanes linking Europe to Asia. Their attacks have continued despite patrols by foreign navies. – (Reuters)