CAIRO — Pirates in the Gulf of Aden are holding nine ships with more than 100 passengers for ransom off Somalia, the International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Center said Thursday.
A 15,000-ton South Korean cargo ship with 21 sailors was hijacked Wednesday. Other captives include a French couple kidnapped Sept. 3 aboard their yacht, which pirates now are using to capture other ships, authorities said.
Pirates released two other ships, a German-owned cargo vessel and a Japanese chemical tanker, after receiving ransoms, Reuters news agency reported Thursday.
Wednesday’s hijacking brought the number of pirate attacks this year in the Gulf of Aden to 50, up from 13 during all of 2007, said Noel Choong, spokesman for the Piracy Reporting Center in Kuala Lumpur.
The Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen, is the main sea route between Europe and Asia. Tankers carrying Middle East oil through the Suez Canal must pass first through the Gulf of Aden.
