Somali pirates attack tanker 1,000 nautical miles from Mogadishu

Somali pirates on Monday November 9, 2009 attacked a 330-metre-long oil tanker some 400 nautical miles north-east of the Seychelles but were unable to capture the ship, a spokesperson for the European Union’s anti-piracy mission Atalanta said.

The pirates fired grenades at the Hong Kong-flagged tanker BW Lion from two speedboats. The tanker was able to escape through some evasive manoeuvres.

The attack was the farthest removed from the Somali capital Mogadishu to date, occurring 1,000 nautical miles away, the Atalanta spokesperson said. A Luxembourg patrol aircraft stationed in Seychelles was searching for the pirates. ref: dpa

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Somali pirates or fishing rights activists?

By USAfricaonline.com Publisher Chido Nwangwu

In July 2009, I interviewed some Somalis in the U.S who argued that most of the so-called pirates are agricultural and fishing groups who are fighting back for the pollution of their sea communities. The second issue which fuels the piracy activities is the illegal fishing by international companies across the miles long water/sea areas of the war-torn Somali country.

Somalia is located in the ‘Horn of Africa’ between the Gulf of Aden and the Indian ocean, and has Kenya and Ethiopia as neighbors. Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad is the president of the country of 9.7million people. There have been issues with the emergence of radical, al-Qaeda-allied groups.