Fourth Ship From Same Company Hijacked By Pirates

25 February, 2007 - The UN is reporting that pirates hijacked a cargo ship delivering UN food aid to northeastern Somalia today (Sunday)

The ship, mv ROZEN, had just delivered a total of 1,800 tons of food aid in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in north eastern Somalia when the pirates struck, said Stephanie Savariaud, a spokeswoman for the U.N.'s World Food Program.
As yet it is unclear if any of the crew - there are 12: six Kenyans and six Sri Lankans - have been injured

"We know it has been hijacked by pirates but we do not know how many pirates there are," Savariaud said. "We are very concerned about the safety of the crew."

After delivering two shipments of aid the ship was returning to her home port of Mombasa in neighbouring Kenya. Not only was this same ship the target of an attempted attack last March, this is the fourth time one of the company's vessel's have been hijacked by pirates.

The mv TORGELOW, also operated by Motaku Shipping of Mombassa was the target of Somali pirates in October 2005 when she was hijacked as she went to the aid of her sister vessel the SEMLOW that had been seized by pirates three months earlier. The SEMLOW had been carrying aid intended for Somalia's tsunami victims and she and her crew were held captive for 100 days.

A week after TORGELOW's ordeal it was yet another fleet sister, the MILTZOW that attracted the pirates and she was seized for two days before being freed.

As Motaku Shipping only have four vessels, with mv ROZEN's capture today, it now means every one of their ships has suffered at the hands of pirates in the last two years.

Source: Shipping times