PIRATES SEIZE MOZAMBICAN FISHING VESSEL

A gang of Somali pirates has seized a fishing ship belonging to the Mozambican company Pescamar.The Ministry of Fisheries announced the disappearance of the vessel, the “Vega 5” on Friday. Its statement said no communications had been received from the ship since last Monday.The “Vega 5” had been fishing off the Bazaruto archipelago, in Inhambane province in the south of the country, with 24 crew members on board. On Saturday, the European Naval Force for Somalia (EUNAVFOR) confirmed that a Mozambican fishing vessel had been seized by Somali pirates. The Deputy Fisheries Minister, Gabriel Muthisse, was not immediately able to confirm to AIM that this was the “Vega 5” – but that was the name of the vessel given by EUNAVFOR in its press release.”We know that the boat disappeared on 27 December”, said Muthisse. “Right now I can’t confirm the truth of the news given by EUNAVFOR. We are still investigating the case”. EUNAVFOR said the ships was spotted on 31 December, near the Mozambique coast, approximately 200 nautical miles south west of the Comoros Islands, heading north. “The vessel was towing what looked to be a pirate attack skiff and did not respond to any calls. There has been no further communication with the vessel”, said the release.This is the furthest south that Somali pirates have struck. It seems likely that the gang that seized the “Vega 5” are the same group which attacked two other ships in the Mozambique Channel over the Xmas weekend. On 24 December, the Liberian registered tanker, the “NS Africa” came under fire, and on Saturday there was an attack against the “Majestic”, a cargo vessel registered in Panama. These attacks were about 200 kilometres east of Quelimane, capital of the central Mozambican province of Zambezia. Both of these attacks failed. The “NS Africa” was able to outmanoeuvre the pirates, while the “Majestic” returned fire, and drove the pirates off.