Pirates Nab Tankers

Pirates operating off the coast of Somalia hijacked two chemical tankers in recent weeks. According to the European Union’s naval forces, the U.K.-flagged St. James Park was boarded on Dec. 28, 2009, in the Gulf of Aden on its way to India, and the Singapore-flagged Pramoni was taken on Jan. 1 en route to Thailand. EU Navfor, the European Union’s armada that is patrolling a “safe corridor” through the gulf and the Indian Ocean, says the St. James, with a crew of 26, is now at the pirates’ lair of Hobyo on the Somali coast. The most recent word on the Pramoni, with a crew of 24, is that it was headed toward Somalia. Despite the efforts of international patrols, Somali pirates have flourished over the past few years, seizing vessels and pocketing millions of dollars. According to the International Maritime Bureau, which tracks piracy, 32 vessels were hijacked by Somali pirates, and 85 were fired upon in the first nine months of 2009.