Somali pirates hijack Iranian fishing vessel – Somali official
May 24, 2017
BOSASSO (Somalia): Somali pirates hijacked an Iranian fishing vessel on Tuesday to use as a base to attack bigger, more valuable ships, the mayor of a Somali town said.
“A group of Somali pirates captured an Iranian fishing vessel and are using it as a mother ship in order to hijack (other) ships,” Ali Shire, the mayor of Haabo in the northern semi-autonomous region of Puntland, told the media.
The global report highlights persisting violence in piracy hotspots off Nigeria and around the Southern Philippines – where two crew members were killed in February. Indonesia also reported frequent incidents, mostly low-level thefts from anchored vessels.
In total, 33 vessels were boarded and four fired upon in the first three months of 2017. Armed pirates hijacked two vessels, both off the coast of Somalia, where no merchant ship had been hijacked since May 2012. Four attempted incidents were also received.
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