CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh: Pirates have seized a Bangladesh-flagged bulk carrier off the coast of Somalia and taken its 23-member crew hostage, the boat owners said Tuesday.
The MV Abdullah was sailing from Mozambique's capital Maputo to the United Arab Emirates with a cargo of 55,000 tonnes of coal when it was attacked around midday on Tuesday, the company said.
"A group of 15-20 Somali pirates hijacked the ship," said Meherul Karim, chief executive officer of Kabir Steel Re-Rolling Mills, which owns the vessel.
The company released an audio message from one of the crew held hostage, who said that gunmen in two speed boats approached the vessel and opened fire.
Karim said the crew were unharmed, adding that "we are waiting for the next message and call."
Mizanul Islam, a company spokesman, said the attack took place around 550 nautical miles (1,000 kilometres) off the coast of Somalia.
Hijackings off Somalia since December have fuelled concerns about a resurgence of Indian Ocean raids by opportunistic pirates, coming on top of a separate surge in attacks launched by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militants.
Houthi gunmen have launched scores of attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden targeting what they deem to be Israeli-linked vessels in response to Israel's war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.
International naval forces have been diverted north from the Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea, sparking fears that pirates will exploit the security gap.
The first successful case of Somali piracy since 2017 was recorded in December.
Naval forces -- including from India, Sri Lanka and the Seychelles -- have since freed fishing boats seized by gunmen and thwarted other attempted attacks.
Pirate attacks off the Somali coast peaked in 2011 -- with gunmen launching attacks as far as 3,655 kilometres (2,270 miles) from the Somali coast in the Indian Ocean -- before falling off sharply after international navies sent warships and commercial shipping deployed armed guards.
Analysts however say that Somali piracy today poses nowhere near the threat it did in 2011.
Pirates seize Bangladesh bulk carrier off Somalia: owners
https://arab.news/7mw66
Pirates seize Bangladesh bulk carrier off Somalia: owners
- The MV Abdullah was sailing from Mozambique's capital Maputo to the United Arab Emirates
- "A group of 15-20 Somali pirates hijacked the ship," said Meherul Karim, chief executive officer of Kabir Steel Re-Rolling Mills, which owns the vessel
Sweden wants to strip organized crime leaders of citizenship
- A bill submitted to parliament on Friday includes a proposal that would allow revoking passports of double citizenship holders convicted of “crimes”
STOCKHOLM: The Swedish government on Friday proposed changes to the constitution that would allow revoking the citizenship of some criminal gang leaders, as part of its work to combat widespread organized crime.
In January, a cross-party parliamentary committee proposed constitutional changes to allow stripping the passports of people with dual nationality convicted of espionage or treason, but stopped short of suggestions targeting organized crime.
“The government has chosen to go further than the committee’s proposal precisely to make it possible to also revoke citizenship from, for example, gang leaders who are guilty of very, very serious harm to society,” Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told a press conference.
He said a bill submitted to parliament on Friday includes a proposal that would allow revoking passports of double citizenship holders convicted of “crimes that gravely affect vital national interests” such as serious gang crime.
Sweden has been plagued by organized crime-related violence for well over a decade.
The government and its backers, the far-right and anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, won the 2022 election on a promise to reduce immigration and gang crime, which they say are linked. New general elections are due in 2026.
To change the Swedish constitution, the proposals need to pass a vote in parliament with a simple majority, followed by a general election and then a second Riksdag vote.
Strommer said he aims for the proposed changes to the constitution to enter into force at the start of 2027.
