39 Kenyans including two South Koreans and two Chinese sailors onboard on South Korean ship Keummi 305 held hostage by Somali Pirates off Kenya\’s Lamu Island and toward international waters have been released by their Captors on Wednesday whiles another group of sea bandits have captured Greek-flagged supertanker carrying oil to the Gulf of Mexico.

The crew was captured four months ago while they were fishing for crabs. The 241-ton Kenya-registered trawler was attacked October 9 in the waters off Kenya\’s Lamu Island.

Though no information on a ransom has been reported increasing ransoms for captured ships and crew is believed to be rooting sea bandits with reason to launch more attacks despite stepped-up patrols by an international flotilla of warships.

High ransoms are meted on supertankers due to the value of crude on board and this is the second successful attack against an oil tanker within 48hours. It is believed that Somali pirates are regularly paid several million dollars for release of ships and crew. They were paid $9.5m for one release late last year, according to reports that analysts found to be credible.

On Tuesday, Somali pirates firing small arms and rocket-propelled grenades hijacked an Italian-flagged oil tanker Irene SL in the Indian Ocean that had been heading from Sudan to Malaysia.

Wednesday\’s release and capture tolls up the pirates of at least 29 ships and 660 hostages.
South Korea\’s foreign ministry said pirates have released the Keummi 305 and its crew members including her two nationals and 41 other nationals. The ship was last reported sailing away from Somalia toward international waters.

The Greek-flagged supertanker Irene SL was sailing 360km east of Oman with a cargo of 266 000 tons of crude oil and a crew of 25 including seven Greeks, 17 Filipinos and a Georgian when it was attacked according to Greece\’s Merchant Marine Ministry.

The tanker was sailing from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Mexico. The ministry said authorities had lost contact with the ship since the attack.
The Piraeus-based shipping company First Navigation Special Maritime Enterprises confirmed its ship had been attacked by pirates but had no further comment.
Susie Thomson, a spokesperson for the multinational Task Force 152 based in Bahrain, said that pirates have been waging attacks increasingly deeper into the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean.
Somalia coast is notorious for piracy and has been a threat to international shipping since the second phase of the Somali Civil War in the early 21st century.
Since 2005, many international organizations, including the International Maritime Organization and the World Food Programme, have expressed concern over the rise in acts of piracy.
Pirates have launched attacks more than 1 600km east of Somalia.

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Tags: Indian Ocean, Kenya, Lamu Island, Oman

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