From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Thu Sep 11 2008 - 08:14:00 EDT
Puntland wants to inspect Iranian ship
Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:37:41 GMT
*An official from the Puntland region says the pirates had not let
officials inspect an Iranian ship they seized in the Gulf of Aden. *
"We asked the pirates to let Puntland officials go inside the Iranian vessel
and see what they are carrying, but they refused," Hassan Osman Alore, the
energy and minerals minister of the autonomous Somali region told the Press
TV correspondent on Wednesday.
He said the region's officials asked the pirates to let the ship be
investigated after they allegedly received reports that *The Iran
Diyanat*was carrying "weapons to Eritrea".
Iran's shipping company, however, has declared that the Iranian bulk carrier
hired by a German company had no weapons on board and was carrying 42,500
tons of minerals and industrial products.
Ibrahim Mohammad-Nabi, Deputy CEO of Iran's shipping company also confirmed
that no Russian or Syrian nationals were aboard the vessel, rejecting claims
made by another Puntland minister that an international crew operates the
ship.
Pirates have stepped up attacks on merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden, as
Somalia's current transitional government has failed to shackle the pirates
in the key commercial shipping lane.
The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) issued a new piracy warning to
all vessels sailing in the area in August, urging sailors to be especially
wary of any approaching smaller craft.
"The situation in this region is grave. These pirates are not afraid to use
significant firepower in attempts to bring vessels under their control," IMB
Director Pottengal Mukundan said.
According to reports, vessels sailing in busy shipping lanes were approached
by speedboats carrying men armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled
grenade (RPG) launchers. The pirates have often opened fired on unarmed
merchant ships.
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