Post by dockworker on Apr 8, 2009 12:38:54 GMT -5
Pirates Seize Maersk Alabama
Peter T. Leach
Apr 8, 2009
The Journal of Commerce
U.S.-flag container vessel taken as attacks in Indian Ocean increase
Somali pirates hijacked the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama and its crew of 20 American crew members early Wednesday morning off the coast of Somalia.
Maersk Line said the ship is deployed in its East Africa service network and was en route to Mombasa in Kenya from Djibouti with food and other relief aid, when it was attacked about 310 miles off the Somalia coast.
It said the U.S.-flagged vessel has a crew of 20 U.S. nationals and is owned and operated by Maersk Line Limited in the U.S.
The Maersk Alabama, which was originally christened the Alva Maersk after it was completed by a Taiwanese shipyard in 1998, is a 1,100-TEU container ship owned by Maersk Line Limited, the Norfolk-based U.S. subsidiary of A. P. Moller-Maersk that operates U.S.-flag ships with American crews under the U.S. Department of Defense’s Maritime Security Program.
U.S. Navy spokesman Lt. Nathan Christensen told The Associated Press the attack occurred in the early hours of Wednesday morning about 280 miles northeast of Eyl, a town in the northern Puntland region of Somalia.
Christensen said the ship was not working under a Pentagon contract when hijacked.
“It’s a pretty vivid reminder that the plague on lawful commerce is with us,” said Christopher Koch, president and CEO of the World Shipping Council. “The U.S. Navy is involved and will certainly be involved in what’s done on this particular ship.”
The vessel is the sixth to be seized within a week and the first with an all-American crew.
On Monday, pirates hijacked a British-owned, Italian-operated ship with 16 Bulgarian crew members on board.
Over the weekend, they also seized a French yacht, a Yemeni tug and a 20,000-tonne German container vessel. Interfax news agency said the Hansa Stavanger had a German captain, three Russians, two Ukrainians and 14 Filipinos on board.
In the first three months of 2009 only eight ships had been hijacked in the busy Gulf of Aden, which links Europe to Asia and the eastern Indian Ocean through the Suez Canal.
Peter T. Leach
Apr 8, 2009
The Journal of Commerce
U.S.-flag container vessel taken as attacks in Indian Ocean increase
Somali pirates hijacked the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama and its crew of 20 American crew members early Wednesday morning off the coast of Somalia.
Maersk Line said the ship is deployed in its East Africa service network and was en route to Mombasa in Kenya from Djibouti with food and other relief aid, when it was attacked about 310 miles off the Somalia coast.
It said the U.S.-flagged vessel has a crew of 20 U.S. nationals and is owned and operated by Maersk Line Limited in the U.S.
The Maersk Alabama, which was originally christened the Alva Maersk after it was completed by a Taiwanese shipyard in 1998, is a 1,100-TEU container ship owned by Maersk Line Limited, the Norfolk-based U.S. subsidiary of A. P. Moller-Maersk that operates U.S.-flag ships with American crews under the U.S. Department of Defense’s Maritime Security Program.
U.S. Navy spokesman Lt. Nathan Christensen told The Associated Press the attack occurred in the early hours of Wednesday morning about 280 miles northeast of Eyl, a town in the northern Puntland region of Somalia.
Christensen said the ship was not working under a Pentagon contract when hijacked.
“It’s a pretty vivid reminder that the plague on lawful commerce is with us,” said Christopher Koch, president and CEO of the World Shipping Council. “The U.S. Navy is involved and will certainly be involved in what’s done on this particular ship.”
The vessel is the sixth to be seized within a week and the first with an all-American crew.
On Monday, pirates hijacked a British-owned, Italian-operated ship with 16 Bulgarian crew members on board.
Over the weekend, they also seized a French yacht, a Yemeni tug and a 20,000-tonne German container vessel. Interfax news agency said the Hansa Stavanger had a German captain, three Russians, two Ukrainians and 14 Filipinos on board.
In the first three months of 2009 only eight ships had been hijacked in the busy Gulf of Aden, which links Europe to Asia and the eastern Indian Ocean through the Suez Canal.