Hiiraan Online
3/29/2024
Today from Hiiraan Online:
Home
Somali Map
Sports
Opinion
RSS
Somali Music
Contact Us
Facebook
Twitter
Google Plus
advertisements
Ghana's navy intercepts suspected pirate ship and arrests crew
Friday, August 02, 2013
advertisements
Ghana's navy has intercepted a ship and arrested its crew on suspicion of involvement in the hijacking of an oil products tanker off Gabon last month, Ghana's government said.
Pirate attacks in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea have almost doubled from last year, jacking up insurance costs for shipping companies.
Experts say gangs based in the waters off Africa's top oil producer Nigeria are extending their reach.
Pirates seized the Maltese-flagged Cotton tanker with its 24-member crew on July 15 near Gabon's Port Gentil, in the first reported attack in that area for five years. The ship was released the following week.
Ghana's deputy Information Minister Felix Kwakye Ofosu said the vessel intercepted by Ghana's navy, the MT Mustard, was believed to have been used to siphon about 3,500 tonnes of fuel from the Cotton.
It later sailed into Ghanaian waters, first docking at the eastern port of Tema before heading for an offshore oil facility off the town of Saltpond.
"The vessel was intercepted off the coast of Saltpond and the crew arrested by the Ghana Navy," Ofosu said in a statement released late on Thursday.
Ghana's Bureau of National Investigations was conducting further investigations into the ship's activities, he said.
The Gulf of Guinea region is a major source of oil, cocoa and, increasingly, metals for world markets.
International navies are not actively engaged in counter-piracy missions in the region, unlike in the waters off Somalia, the piracy hotspot on the other side of the continent.
However, regional governments have begun stepping up efforts to combat the phenomenon.
In June, they signed a code of conduct under which they would arrest and prosecute suspected pirates, seize vessels believed to have been used in piracy and increase regional cooperation. (Reporting by Kwasi Kpodo; Editing by Joe Bavier and Andrew Roche)
Norfolk, VA: Jury recommends life sentences for Somali pirates
- Virginian-Pilot
U.S. issues worldwide travel alert amid terrorism fears
- Washington Post
Man who showed journalists alleged Rob Ford crack video arrested, offered tape to police for plea deal
- Toronto Star
Tom Hanks film to open 57th BFI London Film Festival
- Telegraph
Somali envoy: Turkey to help rebuild Somali police, intelligence forces after attack
- Today's Zaman
Muslim Mercy Youth Qur'an Memorisation Competition
- Coastweek
Unicef: Breastfeeding is the cheapest and most effective life-saver in history
- The Standard
Kenyan police intensify disarmament in Kenya
- Xinhua
Baroness Helena Kennedy: 'Former Haverstock schoolboy's human rights were abused over terror case'
- Camden New Journal
Kenya to pay $460k to rendition victims
- AP
Media freedom is on the slide despite a better political climate
- The Economist
Somalia’s Puntland State releases 78 Iranian sailors
- Press TV
Home
Email