Somali Pirates Seize Greek ship

By AFP and Reuters

BRUSSELS- Feb 28, 2011- Somali pirates on Monday hijacked a Greek-owned ship carrying a crew including 19 Filipinos, three Romanians and a Russian in the Arabian Sea, the EU naval mission said.

The bulk cargo carrier Dover was on its way to Saleef, Yemen, from Port Quasim, Pakistan, when it was attacked by the pirates around 260 nautical miles northeast of Salalah at 0600 GMT, the EU Navfor mission said.

"Details of the attack are not known at this time," the anti-piracy armada said in a statement.

"There is presently no communication with the vessel and no information regarding the condition of the crew," it said.

The Dover was registered with the Maritime Security Centre Horn Of Africa, which monitors the movement of ships in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia.

Prior to this latest hijacking, pirates were holding 31 vessels and 688 hostages off the coast of Somalia, according to the latest Navfor figures released last Friday.

Piracy has surged in recent years off Somalia, a lawless, war-torn country that sits alongside one of the world's most important shipping routes, with seafaring gangs venturing further and further out to sea to capture ships.Factbox: Ships held by Somali pirates

Here are details on ships held by Somali pirates:

* SOCOTRA 1: Seized on Dec. 25, 2009 in the Gulf of Aden. Yemeni-owned ship had six Yemeni crew.

* ICEBERG 1: Seized on March 29, 2010. Roll-on roll-off vessel captured 10 miles from Aden. Crew of 24.

* JIH-CHUN TSAI 68: Taiwanese fishing vessel seized on March 30. Crew of 14: Taiwanese captain, two Chinese and 11 Indonesians.

* RAK AFRIKANA: Seized on April 11. The St. Vincent and the Grenadines-flagged 7,561-dwt cargo ship was taken 280 miles west of the Seychelles.

* Three Thai fishing vessels -- PRANTALAY 11, 12 and 14 -- hijacked on April 17-18. Total of 77 crew.

* TAI YUAN 227: Taiwanese fishing boat seized on May 6: 24 crew -- nine Chinese, three Vietnamese, three Filipinos, seven Kenyans and two from Mozambique.

* AL-DHAFIR: Seized on May 7. Fishing boat seized off Yemen. Seven Yemeni crew.

* SUEZ: Seized on Aug. 2. Panama-flagged cargo ship hijacked in the Gulf of Aden. Carrying cement. Crew of 23 all from Egypt, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India.

* OLIB G: Seized on Sept. 8. Maltese-flagged merchant vessel with 18 crew -- 15 Georgians, three Turks.

* ASPHALT VENTURE: Seized on Sept. 29: The 3,884-dwt bitumen carrier was heading to Durban from Mombasa. Crew of 15 Indians.

* YORK: Seized on Oct. 23. Singapore-flagged, Greek managed, 5,076-dwt LPG tanker seized 50 miles from Mombasa. Ship empty after discharging cargo in Mombasa. Crew of 17 -- German master, two Ukrainians, 14 Filipinos.

* CHOIZIL: Seized on Oct. 26. South-African-owned yacht was hijacked after leaving Dar es Salaam. European Union anti-piracy task force rescued one South African but two other crew members were taken ashore and held as hostages.

* AL-NASSR: Seized Oct. 28. Motorised dhow captured off Yemeni island of Socotra.

* POLAR: Seized on Oct 30: Liberian-owned Panama-flagged 72,825-tonne tanker seized 580 miles east of Socotra. Crew of 24 -- one Romanian, three Greeks, four Montenegrins, 16 Filipinos.

* HANNIBAL II: Seized on Nov. 11. Panama-flagged chemical tanker was taken 860 miles east of Horn of Africa. The 24,105-tonne vessel was sailing to Suez from Malaysia carrying vegetable oil. Crew of 31 -- 23 Tunisians, four Filipinos, a Croat, a Georgian, a Russian and a Moroccan.

* YUAN XIANG: Seized on Nov. 12. Chinese-owned cargo ship captured off Oman. Crew of 29 Chinese.

* ALBEDO: Seized on Nov. 26. Malaysian-owned cargo vessel was taken 900 miles off Somalia as it headed for Mombasa from UAE. Crew of 23 from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Iran.

* JAHAN MONI: Seized on Dec. 5. Merchant ship was 1,300 miles east of Somalia en route from Indonesia to Greece carrying nickel ore. Crew of 26.

* PANAMA: Seized on Dec. 10: Liberian-flagged container ship en route from Tanzania to Beira. Crew of 23 from Myanmar.

* RENUAR: Seized on Dec. 11: Liberian-owned bulk cargo vessel, 70,156 dwt, captured en route to Fujairah from Port Louis. Crew of 24 Filipinos.

* ORNA: Seized on Dec. 20: The Panama-flagged bulk cargo vessel, 27,915 dwt, owned by the United Arab Emirates, was seized 400 miles northeast of the Seychelles.

* THOR NEXUS: Seized on Dec. 25: Thai-registered 20,377-dwt bulk carrier was hijacked 350 miles off Oman. Crew of 27 Thais.

* SHIUH FU NO 1: Seized Dec. 25, 2010: Somali pirates appeared to have seized the Taiwanese-owned fishing vessel near the northeast tip of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The vessel had a crew of 26 Taiwanese, Chinese and Vietnamese nationals.

* EMS RIVER: Seized on Dec. 27: The Antigua and Barbuda-flagged ship 5,200-dwt cargo vessel had about eight crew and was captured in the Gulf of Aden en route to the Suez Canal.

* VEGA 5: Seized before Dec. 31: Somali pirates hijacked the 140 dwt Mozambican-flagged fishing vessel about 200 miles southwest of the Comoros. There were two Spaniards, three Indonesians and 19 Mozambicans on board.

* BLIDA: Seized on Jan. 1, 2011: The 20,586-tonne Algerian-flagged bulk carrier was seized about 150 miles southeast of Salalah, Oman. The ship, with 27 crew from Algeria, Ukraine and the Philippines, was heading to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from Salalah with a cargo of clinker.

* EAGLE: Seized on Jan. 17: The 52,163-tonne Greek-owned merchant vessel was en route to India from Jordan when it was seized. It had a crew of 24 Filipinos.

* HOANG SON SUN: Seized on Jan. 19: The 22,835-tonne bulk carrier, which is Mongolian flagged and Vietnamese-owned and had a crew of 24 Vietnamese nationals, was seized about 520 nautical miles southeast of the port of Muscat.

* BELUGA NOMINATION: Seized on Jan. 22. The 9,775-dwt cargo ship was boarded about 800 miles off the Seychelles. Owned by the Bremen-based Beluga Shipping, it is Antigua and Barbuda flagged. Crew comprised a Polish captain and seven Filipino, two Russian and two Ukrainian seamen.

* SAVINA CAYLYN: Seized on Feb. 8: The 104,255-dwt tanker, Italian-flagged and owned, was on passage to Malaysia from Sudan when it was attacked 670 miles east of Socotra Island. It had five Italians and 17 Indians on board.

* IRENE SL: Seized on Feb. 9: The U.S.-bound oil tanker was carrying about 2 million barrels of Kuwaiti crude oil, worth $200 million at market prices, when it was seized off the coast of Oman. The Greek-owned and flagged 319,000-dwt tanker carried seven Greeks, 17 Filipinos and one Georgian on board.

* SININ: Seized on Feb. 12: The Maltese owned and registered bulk carrier was seized with a crew of 23 -- 13 Iranian and 10 Indian nationals -- in the North Arabian Sea. The 53,000 dwt vessel was on route to Singapore from Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates.

* DOVER: Seized on Feb. 28: It was taken about 260 nautical miles north east of Salalah in Oman. The Panamanian flagged, Greek owned vessel was on its way to Saleef (Yemen) from Port Quasim (Pakistan) when it was attacked. The crew consists of three Romanians, one Russian and 19 Filipinos.

Source: AFP and Reuters