Somali pirates seize Spanish fishing vessel

NAIROBI. Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Somali pirates have hijacked a Spanish fishing boat in the dangerous waters of the Indian Ocean after a month of a lull of activity along the coast of the Horn of Africa nation, a regional maritime official confirmed on Friday.

Andrew Mwangura, the East Africa Coordinator of Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP), said the 100-meter MS Alakrana was seized early Friday by armed gunmen with 36 crew members on board.

"The crew is composed of 16 Spanish, eight Indonesians, four Ghanaians, three Senegalese, two from Ivory Coast, two from Madagascar and one from Seychelles," Mwangura told Xinhua by telephone from Mombasa.

The Alakrana was hijacked in international waters at about 600 km off the Somali coast, and was being taken towards the Horn of Africa country.

The Alakrana managed to escape from would-be hijackers early last month off the coastal Somalia.

About 20 Spanish fishing vessels were in the same area as the Alakrana at the time of the hijacking.

Piracy has become rampant off the coast of Africa, especially in the waters near Somalia, which has been without an effective government since 1991.

Ransoms started out in the tens of thousands of dollars and have since climbed into the millions.

An estimated 25,000 ships annually cruise the Gulf of Aden, off Somalia's northern coast. Over 10 ships and 200 crew members are still held by Somali pirates.

The Gulf of Aden, off the northern coast of Somalia, has the highest risk of piracy in the world. About 25,000 ships use the channel south of Yemen, between the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.