World Apr. 07, 2009 - 06:31AM JST ( 21 )

NAIROBI —

Somali pirates seized ships from France, Britain, Germany, Taiwan and Yemen, defying world naval powers by prowling further out in the Indian Ocean to target victims.

Ransom-hunting pirates equipped with skiffs, guns and grapnels took five ships in 48 hours, the two latest on Monday targeting a British cargo ship and a Taiwanese fishing vessel.

At least 17 ships and more than 250 hostages are now in pirate hands.

“There were two more hijackings today. There is one Italian-operated British-owned ship and a Taiwanese vessel near the Seychelles,” said an official involved in regional piracy monitoring.

The Seychelles government said it received a distress call saying that a Taiwanese fishing vessel, the MV Winfar 161, and its 29 crew was hijacked in its exclusive economic zone, north of Denis island.

Transport Minister Joel Morgan said military forces had been deployed to intercept the pirates, amid reports that three more Taiwanese ships were trying to escape capture.

The information center of the European Union’s anti-piracy naval mission Atalanta confirmed the hijacking of the British Panama-flagged Malaspina Castle.

“A 32,000 ton UK-owned and Italian-operated bulk carrier was hijacked early this morning in the Gulf of Aden ... the mixed nationality crew are believed to be safe,” it said.

The maritime administration in Sofia said 16 crew members were Bulgarians.

Ecoterra International, an environment group monitoring illegal marine activities in the region, reported that a French yacht was captured Saturday about 640 kilometers off Ras Hafun in northeast Somalia and was heading toward Somali Puntland.

The French foreign ministry said it was checking the report but Ecoterra said brief satellite phone contact was made with the 12.3-meter-long sloop on Sunday.

A source close to the investigation in France said two couples and a three-year-old boy had been onboard the yacht, called the Tanit, which had left in July for the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar.

A blog believed to belong to one of the couples onboard spoke of the risks, with one recent entry saying they had begun traveling with no lights at night.

“We are in the middle of the risk zone for piracy; however nothing to report,” it said.

An earlier post said: “The danger exists, and it has undoubtedly grown in recent months, but the ocean is vast. The pirates must not ruin our dream.”

Hundreds of ransom-hunting Somali pirates have hijacked dozens of ships over the past year, mostly merchant vessels plying one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes.

They operate from skiffs towed by pirate “mother ships,” which are often hijacked fishing vessels. Last year, their haul included a Ukrainian cargo loaded with combat tanks and a Saudi supertanker.

More than 130 attacks, including close to 50 successful hijackings, were reported in 2008, threatening the vital shipping lane and spurring the international community into joint naval action.

France has shown itself ready to intervene in past incidents. On Sept 15, French special forces stormed the Carre d’As, a yacht carrying a retired French couple captured by pirates two weeks earlier.

French commandos also went after pirates who had just released the luxury yacht Le Ponant in April 2008.

On Sunday, a Kenya-based maritime official confirmed pirates had also seized a German container vessel.

The ship was taken Saturday about 400 nautical miles from the Somali coast, between Kenya and the Seychelles, said Andrew Mwangura, of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme.

The prosecutor’s office in the German city of Hamburg confirmed five of the 24 crew members were Germans.

Ecoterra also reported that an Indian cargo, the Shehenshah-e-Medina, and its 18 crew were recently released by Somali pirates after being held for close to a week.

The group’s statement quoted Ahmed Bhaya, secretary of the Salaya Vessel Owners Association, as saying that the ship, which was not carrying any cargo, was hijacked on March 30.

It said that pirates captured a Yemeni tugboat, the Al-Ghaith, and its seven crew on Sunday.

The number of attacks had dipped since the start of the year, owing to an increased international naval presence and unfavorable seas.

But some pirate groups have ventured far into the Indian Ocean, southeast of Somalia, to target ships further out at sea.

Wire reports