Somali pirates hijack Spanish fishing boat

Somalian pirates have added yet another ship to their extensive hijacking-at-sea list. This time, the victim is a Spanish fishing vessel.

According to the Spanish radio station La Ser, the boat - the 'Alacrana' set sail from a port in Basque Country, situated in the north of Spain. The 100-meter vessel, with on board a crew of 36, was last seen at about 400 nautical miles northwest of the Seychelles, Spanish officials said. Various attempts have been made to contact the ship so far, but they all failed. The radio reports were confirmed by the Seafarers Assistance Programme, a Kenya-based organization that monitors Pirate activity. In the meantime, an environmental group is looking into the circumstances of the hijacking. "We are trying to establish if this is a case of illegal fishing within the Somali waters or an act of piracy," an official of Ecoterra International told press agency AFP. "We would like the Spanish authorities to share information concerning the whereabouts of their fishing vessels to be sure that they are not fishing in Somali waters," he added. Apparently the captain of the Alacrana was quoted last week saying that bad weather had helped his vessel to escape a pirate attack. The Alacrana is not the first vessel that has been attacked or hijacked by Somali pirates. According to Ecoterra International, which also monitors pirate activity, at least 163 attacks have been carried out since the start of 2009 alone. Close to 50 were successful hijackings. In 2008, over 130 merchant vessels were targeted along the Coast with Somalia - 200 percent more then in 2007. It is estimated that Somalian pirates made over 150 million USD in ransoms last year.