Somali pirates have hijacked an Iranian fishing trawler off northeastern Somalia amid fears of renewed U.S. attacks. The vessel was carrying 21 Iranian fishermen and two Somali guards among a crew of 23, the European Union’s Maritime Security Centre for the Indian Ocean said.
Armed men boarded the Iranian trawler Azini at about 12:30 p.m. local time on Sunday, November 1, and took control of it. The incident occurred about 185 nautical miles east of the Somali port city of Bandar Beyla. The centre said it had no information about the crew’s condition or safety when its report was prepared.
An official with the Puntland Maritime Police told The Associated Press that 12 pirates had taken the trawler and its 23 crew members hostage. The Azini has a design similar to vessels Somali pirates have used as “mother ships” or base vessels. Pirates use hijacked small boats as mobile bases to reach larger commercial ships far from shore.
The centre said the trawler had moved about 110 nautical miles farther east by Saturday, bringing it closer to one of the region’s busiest commercial shipping routes. It warned that pirates could use the Iranian trawler as a mother ship for another operation.
Somali pirates have increased their hijacking activity since the start of the year, the report said. They seized about six ships during the summer alone, and some of the attacks caused deaths.
In September, local police arrested 16 suspected pirates during an operation to recover the hijacked oil tanker Honor 25. Five hostages had been killed in gunfire on the tanker before the operation.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report