They're Back! Somali Pirates Grab Ship, Make Demands

I think we've seen this failed state/"everybody is robbing us" movie before. VOA report Seized Oil Tanker with 8 Crew Anchored Off Somalia Coast

VOA photo

The hijackers who seized an oil tanker and its eight-man crew off Somalia are demanding “compensation” for a rise in illegal fishing in Somali waters.

VOA’s Somali service spoke by phone to one of the hijackers Tuesday, a day after men boarded and seized the ship about 30 kilometers off the Somali coast, then anchored off Alula, a town in Somalia’s Puntland region.

The hijacker said seven men took part in the raid. He asserted that he and his colleagues are fishermen, not pirates.

“We have decided, as local fishermen, to resist illegal fishing. We have taken arms to defend ourselves, and we will continue,” said the man, who declined to give his name and did not suggest any dollar figures.

Asked about the crew, he said: “It’s not our principle to kill them. They are healthy. We looked after them. We are after the people who sent them, to make sure they never return.”

Because we all know oil tankers are engaged in illegal fishing.