Somali Pirates grab two ships

The Somali pirates are back. After a fairly quiet start to the year, pirates operating from the lawless Somali coast grabbed two ships in the Indian Ocean in the span of 24 hours. Both ships are described as chemical tankers – the Greek-owned 9,000-ton Nipayia and the Norwegian-owned 23,000-ton Bow Asir. No word was immediately available on what cargoes either ship was carrying. The owners of the Nipayia said the last contact they had with the ship was on Thursday when the crew sent an e-mail to say 16 to 18 armed pirates had seized control of the ship; there has been no contact with the Bow Asir, but satellite photos show it changing course, presumably headed for the Somali coast.

Pirates have managed only managed to capture a handful of small ships so far this year. Vessels from 20 different navies are patrolling off the Somali coast and have taken credit for the dip in pirate attacks, though others say the weather has played a factor – rough seas have kept the pirates, and the small speedboats they usually use, in port. Even naval officials concede that two dozen ships searching for small pirate boats in two million or so square miles of open ocean is like looking for a needle in a very large haystack.

The Nipayia and Bow Asir will now likely be moored off the coast of Somalia and held for ransom. Piracy remains a lucrative business for Somalia since nearly 10% of the world's shipping traffic passes off their coast bound for the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, the gateway to the ports of Europe.