German cargo ship hijacked in security corridor

The attack on the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged vessel  has been independently confirmed by US Navy sources, Lloyd's List reports.

The maritime administration of Antigua and Barbuda has also advised that the cargo vessel, Victoria, and her Romanian crew, had been hijacked by eight pirates in the Gulf of Aden while heading for the Port of Jeddah in the Red Sea.

The Lloyd’s MIU database shows that she is a 2004-built, 10,683 dwt general cargoship with container capacity and is associated with Haren (Ems)-based company Intersee Schiffahrts-Gesellschaft.

The Antigua and Barbuda statement said the ship had registered her presence with the European Union’s anti-piracy mission Atalanta and had been sailing inside the transit corridor monitored by naval forces.

Lt Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet, separately confirmed the hijacking and said it took place 75 km south of the Yemeni port of al Mukalla.

Media reports suggest that Victoria and her crew of 10 were taken towards the port of Eyl, a key pirate base in the northern Somali breakaway region of Puntland.

Meanwhile, the Italian navy has reportedly thwarted an attempted attack on an Italian ship in the Gulf of Aden.

Wire service Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata, citing Italian defence officials, said that the attackers fled on the approach of a military helicopter and the Italian frigate, Maestrale.

The targeted vessel was named as Neverland, listed by Lloyd’s MIU as a 2002-built, 105,411 dwt tanker.

The ship, associated with Finaval, was heading east toward India and was carrying natural gas.