04-08-2009, 05:11 AM
First time American crew have been taken, wonder what or navy will do
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Maersk ship seized
A Maersk Line boxship has become the second such vessel to be captured by Somali pirates in under a week.
The 17,000-dwt vessel, which TradeWinds understands is the 1,098-teu Maersk Alabama (built 1998), has an all American crew of 21, according to a brief statement from the UK-based Maritime Security Centre (Horn of Africa).
The MSC(HOA) said the incident happened early on Wednesday morning about 400 miles east of Mogadishu. However, a naval source told TradeWinds the attack took place 240 miles off the coast of Eyl at 07:30 local time.
A spokesperson at Maersk's Danish press office could not confirm that one of its ships had been seized. The naval source, however, confirmed that it was a US-flagged Maersk ship which was involved.
The Maersk Alabama is operated by Maersk Line Ltd in Virginia, US but was not under contract to the US Department of Defence at the time of the hijacking.
All crew are understood to be unharmed.
The navy source said the closest US Navy ship to the seized ship at the time of the assault was around 300 miles away.
This is the first time that a ship with any US nationals onboard has been hijacked off Somalia with attention now focusing on how the US Navy handles the situation.
Although this is the first time Maersk has had a ship hijacked off the Somali coast it is not the company's first scrape with piracy in the region.
Only last Wednesday the 11,646-cbm LPG/chemical carrier Sigloo Tor (built 1989), which is on charter to Maersk Gas Carriers but owned by the Eitzen Group, came under fire in the Gulf of Aden but managed to avoid capture.
In mid January the 5,248-teu Barentsz (built 2000) came under grenade fire off Somali's coast and only avoided seizure after the action on the crew and help from the Russian Navy.
In November last year the 29,000-dwt tanker Britta Maersk (built 2007) narrowly avoided capture in the Gulf of Aden after crew repelled an attack by pirates in two speed boats.
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Maersk ship seized
A Maersk Line boxship has become the second such vessel to be captured by Somali pirates in under a week.
The 17,000-dwt vessel, which TradeWinds understands is the 1,098-teu Maersk Alabama (built 1998), has an all American crew of 21, according to a brief statement from the UK-based Maritime Security Centre (Horn of Africa).
The MSC(HOA) said the incident happened early on Wednesday morning about 400 miles east of Mogadishu. However, a naval source told TradeWinds the attack took place 240 miles off the coast of Eyl at 07:30 local time.
A spokesperson at Maersk's Danish press office could not confirm that one of its ships had been seized. The naval source, however, confirmed that it was a US-flagged Maersk ship which was involved.
The Maersk Alabama is operated by Maersk Line Ltd in Virginia, US but was not under contract to the US Department of Defence at the time of the hijacking.
All crew are understood to be unharmed.
The navy source said the closest US Navy ship to the seized ship at the time of the assault was around 300 miles away.
This is the first time that a ship with any US nationals onboard has been hijacked off Somalia with attention now focusing on how the US Navy handles the situation.
Although this is the first time Maersk has had a ship hijacked off the Somali coast it is not the company's first scrape with piracy in the region.
Only last Wednesday the 11,646-cbm LPG/chemical carrier Sigloo Tor (built 1989), which is on charter to Maersk Gas Carriers but owned by the Eitzen Group, came under fire in the Gulf of Aden but managed to avoid capture.
In mid January the 5,248-teu Barentsz (built 2000) came under grenade fire off Somali's coast and only avoided seizure after the action on the crew and help from the Russian Navy.
In November last year the 29,000-dwt tanker Britta Maersk (built 2007) narrowly avoided capture in the Gulf of Aden after crew repelled an attack by pirates in two speed boats.