Pirates hijack bulk carrier off Muscat coast
Thursday 20 January 2011 6:39 PM
Muscat: MV Hong Son Sun, a 22,835-tonne Bulk carrier, is believed to have been pirated approximately 520 nautical miles South East of the port of Muscat, Oman, according to a statement emailed by *European Union Naval Force to Gulf News today.
The Mongolian flagged and Vietnamese owned ship has a crew of 24 Vietnamese nationals. No further details of the attack are known at this stage.
MV Hong Son Sun was not registered with MSC(HOA) and had not reported to UKMTO.
There are now 30 vessels and 724 hostages being held by pirates off the coast of Somalia.
*EU NAVFOR Somalia - Operation ATALANTA's main tasks are to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the 'World Food Program' (WFP) and vessels of 'African Union Mission in Somalia' (AMISOM), and to protect vulnerable ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean and to deter and disrupt piracy. EU NAVFOR also monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia.
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