Pirates Attack Six More Ships Off Of Somalia-NATO -- Somalinet
(SomaliNet) According to data from NATO, pirates have attacked six more vessels off the coast of Somalia in just the past week.
The now-infamous, weapons-clogged MV Faina remains in pirates' hands. And international tensions are ratcheting up by the day.
The latest attacks bring the total number of "piracy-related incidents" in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast to 93. A dozen vessels are currently being held for ransom -- their last known whereabouts are on the NATO slide, above.
"Larger cargo/oil/gas/chemical tankers" are now the pirates' favorite target. The idea isn't just to make money off of a single attack. Often, the vessels are being hijacked "with the sole intention of using them" as "mother ships," to launch more small-boat strikes.
Often, the Islamic militants battling the Somali government benefit from the operations. The Al Shabaab group "received a five per cent cut of the $1.5 million paid out for a Spanish ship released several months ago," the Telegraph reports. But this time, the pirates allegedly dissed the insurgents.
"Al Shabaab wanted some weapons from the [MV Faina] but the pirates rejected their demands," an unnamed local official tells the paper.
Maybe that's because there's now a Russian frigate closing in on the hijacked vessel "and a half-dozen U.S. warships within shouting distance," as the AP notes.
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