Somali pirates appear to have grabbed another ship in the Gulf of Aden, this time within 10 miles of the port of Aden, Yemen, as reported by
MSC(HOA):
Reports have been received by EU NAVFOR that the MV Iceberg 1 has been hijacked 10 nautical miles off the port of Aden, Yemen, outside the International Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC).
The Iceberg 1 is a Panama Flagged, Roll on Roll Off vessel with deadweight of 4500 tonnes. The vessel, with a crew of 24 and carrying a mixed cargo of general mechanical equipment, was bound for Jebel Ali in the UAE when hijacked. The crew consist of persons from Yemen, India, Ghana, Sudan, Pakistan and the Philipines.
The last contact with the vessel was the master stating to his owner that pirates were onboard. The vessel appears to be heading towards the Somali coast.
Where was the Yemen Coast Guard? The US, Canada and the UK have pumped in Millions of dollars for the Yemen Coast Guard, for training, equipment and support, yet the Yemen Coast Guard continues to hire itself out privately to the highest bidder. If they were using that money as intended, and patrolling their own area, such as major ports, this type of hijacking could have easily been avoided. Again, no accountability for our tax dollars.
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