Ship Carrying Food News

At first light on 12 January 2012, having just completed the escort of a World Food Programme ship carrying food-aid into Somalia and while operating close to the Somali port of Mogadishu, the EU NAVFOR Flagship, the ESPS PATINO, was approached by one skiff with a group of suspected pirates onboard. The suspected pirates opened fire with light calibre weapons and tried to board the PATINO. The ship’s force-protection team returned fire in self-defense and the ship’s helicopter was launched.

Pirates may have seized an oil tanker and another ship carrying food to Somalia at the weekend in the latest of a series of hijackings off the lawless Horn of Africa nation, Reuters reported.. An official told Reuters he was informed of the possible hijacking by colleagues in Dubai where both ships -- one laden with oil, the other with food -- had embarked on their trips. Details were vague, and it is uncertain how many crew members were on board the boats. The Indian Ocean waters off Somalia are among the most dangerous in the world, with an epidemic of attacks and hijackings in recent months.