Pirates get ransom, release Thai cargo ship

[unhappycamper]

Pirates get ransom, release Thai cargo ship
By Salad Duhul - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Oct 19, 2008 11:09:28 EDT

MOGADISHU, Somalia — It’s been a busy, profitable week for Somali pirates: They hijacked one South Korean bulk carrier Wednesday, released another South Korean cargo ship Thursday and let a hijacked Thai ship go Saturday after getting a ransom.

Somali minister Ali Abdi Aware reported the release of the Thai ship after the ransom, but said Sunday it was not clear exactly how much money was paid.

Aware, the minister for foreign affairs for the semiautonomous northern Somali region of Puntland, said Puntland forces will be hunting for the pirates. Earlier this week, Puntland forces freed a Panama-flagged cargo ship from pirates in a gunbattle that killed one soldier.

Somalia, which has had no effective government since 1991, has become the world’s piracy hotspot.

There have been 73 attacks this year in the Gulf of Aden that forms the northern Somalia coastline, and about 29 ships have been hijacked, according to the International Maritime Bureau.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/10/ap_pirates_cargoship_101908/%2e

[thunder rising]

1. It's great to see our last experiment with nation building turn out so well.