Ranneberger, reasons 1. Naval Forces Central Command NAVCENT has assigned an international task force of warships to patrol the Gulf of Aden after five commercial vessels were attacked off Somalia's coast since August 19, resulting in three hijackings within the last 24 hours. Post believes a letter from the USG to Somalia's Puntland government will underscore the urgent need for cooperation. End Summary. In the last few months, pirates have ransomed hijacked commercial and pleasure craft and crew for millions of dollars.
Ransoms have often been paid by the ships' insurance companies. Authorities in Somalia's semiautonomous region of Puntland, where the pirates are based, have told us they are incabable of stopping the pirates, but some reports suggest officials are directly benefiting from pirates' ransoms. Reftel reported details of earlier Somali pirates' attacks and modus operandi. U Since July 21, nine ships have been attacked, resulting in six hijackings. Eight of the attacks occurred in the Gulf of Aden; one ship was hijacked off the northeastern Somali coast near the Indian Ocean town of Bandarbeyla.
Late August 21 a German cargo ship was hijacked in the Gulf. End Note. By August 29, three U. The zone will act as a buffer between the Somali coast and shipping lanes off southern Yemen. SBU Piracy also threatens delivery of humanitarian food shipments to Somalia's southern regions, hard hit by drought and internal conflict.
European and Canadian navies are providing escorts to World Food Program contracted cargo ships through the end of the year. It is unclear who will escort emergency food deliveries beginning in C We believe it is important to press the Puntland president to do more to combat piracy. Septel will provide proposed text.
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