New Delhi: Pirates seized a Thai ship with 16 crewmembers and an Iranian cargo vessel with a crew of 25 off the coast of Somalia hours after an Indian navy ship sunk a separate pirate vessel on Wednesday.
The Iranian carrier, The Delight, was flying a Hong Kong flag but was operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines. Reports say it has seven Indians among its crew. The other crewmembers are from Iran, the Philippines, Pakistan and Guyana.
The pirates have made a demand for an undisclosed amount of ransom for releasing The Delight, which was carrying 26,000 tonnes of wheat.
The Thai boat, which was flying a flag from the tiny Pacific nation of Kiribati but operated out of Thailand, made a distress call as it was being chased by pirates in two speedboats but the phone connection was cut. Of its 16 crewmembers, 15 are Thai and one is Cambodian.
Pirates used to mainly roam the waters off the coast of Somalia, where there has not been a stable, functioning government in nearly 20 years. But now they are targeting ships far further out at sea.
These days, pirates appear to be attacking ships at will in the region, said Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre in Malaysia.
"It's getting out of control," Choong said.
Despite increased multinational naval patrols in waters between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, there have been eight ship hijackings this week alone.
This year, 39 ships have been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday that pirates off Somalia had taken in an estimated $25 million to $30 million in ransom in 2008.
Pirates made their most audacious attack when they seized Sirius Star, a Saudi Arabian oil tanker. The tanker was seized 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, far beyond the gangs' usual area of operations. It is believed to be now anchored near Eyl, a former Somali fishing village that has become a well-defended pirate base.
(With inputs from AP and Reuters)
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