Somalia: Somali pirate attacks up, says maritime watchdog

(SomaliNet) A maritime watchdog said on Thursday that Somali pirates were now responsible for nearly a third of all reported attacks on ships, often taking hostages and using high levels of violence.

63 of the 199 piracy incidents recorded worldwide in the first nine months of 2008 occurred in the waters off war-ravaged Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden, the International Maritime Bureau said.

The figure is almost double the 36 attacks blamed on Somali pirates out of 198 global attacks for the same period the year before.

Pottengal Mukundan, IMB director said piracy in the Gulf of Aden - an important sea route for oil exports - was of particular concern.

\"It is clear that pirates in the Gulf of Aden believe that they can operate with impunity in attacking vessels - some of which have included tankers and large bulk carriers,\" Mukundan said.

The IMB says globally 115 vessels have been boarded, 31 vessels hijacked and 23 vessels fired upon in the same period. A total of 581 crew have been taken hostage with nine kidnapped, nine killed and seven still missing.

Nato warships are set to start combating piracy off the coast of Somalia in the next few days and escort aid ships to the war-ravaged nation, an alliance spokesperson said on Wednesday, amid the growing number of attacks.

Of the 63 attacks in the region, 26 vessels were hijacked, eight off Somalia and 18 in the Gulf of Aden, with 12 vessels still being held for ransom and 259 crew still held hostage as of the end of September, the IMB reported.

Mukundan said attacks sometimes involved ships being indiscriminately fired upon using automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades.

\"What is required is robust action against the pirates\' mother ships before they succeed in hijacking vessels,\" he said.

\"The locations and descriptions of these mother ships are known.\"

The IMB report placed Nigeria as the second worst piracy hot spot with 24 incidents so far in 2008, of which 20 have occurred near the port city of Lagos.

Indonesia is the third riskiest shipping area, according to the IMB, with 23 mostly low level attacks scattered throughout the vast archipelago. The figure is down on 2007 when 37 attacks were recorded.

Meanwhile, the Malacca Straits, which runs between Indonesia and Malaysia saw only two incidents - the same as the previous year.

However, the IMB advised ships to maintain \"a strict anti-piracy watch\" when moving through the area.-AFP