Somali pirates seize chemical tanker

A German military helicopter fished out the three crewmen, in a photo released by the French Navy. (AFP/Getty Images)

NAIROBI - Somali pirates seized control of a chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden yesterday, and a NATO helicopter gunship, too late to prevent the hijacking, picked up three security guards who jumped into the sea.

France and Germany, which have ships in the area as part of an international antipiracy coalition, sent the aircraft after receiving a distress call just after dawn, said Commander Christophe Prazuck, a French military spokesman. But in the 15 minutes it took to get to the site, the pirates had already boarded and had taken the crew of 25 Indians and two Bangladeshis hostage.

The two British guards who leaped overboard with their Irish colleague were safe on board a French warship, he said.

The ship hijacked yesterday, the Liberian-flagged MV Biscaglia, is operated out of Singapore, said the head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Malaysia.

Germany and France have ships in the area as part of a NATO fleet that, along with warships from Denmark, India, Malaysia, Russia, and the United States, has started patrolling the vast maritime corridor. They escort some merchant ships and respond to distress calls in the fight against increasingly brazen pirate attacks off Somalia's coast, a major international shipping lane through which about 20 tankers sail daily. Yesterday's was the 97th ship hijacking this year.

One of the hijacked ships, the Malta-flagged cargo ship Centauri, was released Thursday with all 25 Filipino crew unharmed after more than two months in the hands of pirates, Greece announced.

Yesterday, Russia's UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said it was possible the UN might pass a new resolution with more aggressive rules of engagement.

The US Navy says it is impossible to patrol all 2.5 million miles of dangerous waters.

ASSOCIATED PRESS