Sunday, November 23, 2008, 01.39 AM
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Sunday, November 23, 2008, 01.39 AM |
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The attempted hijack comes just days after pirates seized four other vessels -- Malaysian, Iranian, Japanese and German -- in the Gulf of Aden off the Somali coast.
The Japanese-operated ship with a crew of 20 was heading to the Middle East from Singapore when the attack took place in the Gulf of Aden, said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre here.
"Two speed boats chased and opened fire at the cargo ship. A suspected mother ship was in the vicinity. But the Japanese cargo ship managed to escape after the captain increased speed and took evasive manoeuvres," he told the Associated Press.
The ship's crew was safe and no one was injured in the hour-long chase, Choong said.
On Tuesday, pirates seized a Malaysian palm oil tanker with 39 crew in the Gulf of Aden. Two days later, they hijacked an Iranian bulk carrier with 29 crew, a Japanese-operated chemical tanker with 19 crew and a German-operated cargo ship with nine crew in the same area.
He said the United Nations and the international community must take action to secure the area.
Thirty out of 36 attacks on ships off Somalia's coast have occurred in the Gulf of Aden.
The latest attacks have raised alarm among seafarers using the key shipping route. The International Maritime Bureau has issued an urgent warning to ships to be on strict watch, Choong said.
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