EU naval force: Search underway to retrieve Malaysian vessel

The European Union anti-piracy taskforce said Tuesday it has stepped up search and rescue operation for the Malaysian flagged motor vessel which sunk in rough seas on Sunday. EU Naval Force Media Operations Officer Timo Lange said on Tuesday that so far all the 15 crew members on the MV Albedo, held by armed pirates at an anchorage close to the Somali Coast remained unaccounted for. "An EU Naval Force warship is continuing to search the sea area for survivors. So far, all remain unaccounted for," Lange told Xinhua. MV Albedo has been in pirate hands since it was attacked in the Indian Ocean on Nov. 25, 2010 while sailing from the United Arab Emirates to Kenya. Somali pirates tend to be well armed with automatic weapons and Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG) and sometimes use skiffs launched from mother vessels, which may be hijacked fishing vessels or dhows, to conduct attacks far from the Somali coast. Since Somali piracy is largely a hijack-for-ransom business, it relies heavily on onshore support for infrastructure that provides food, water, fuel and the leafy narcotic khat to the militiamen who guard the hijacked ships throughout the ransom negotiation process. The EU naval force said its warship and maritime patrol aircraft have closed the sea area and are carrying out a search and rescue operation to search for any survivors. "The whereabouts of the 15 crew members from MV Albedo is still to be confirmed," the EU anti-piracy taskforce said and promised to release further information on the progress later. By May, Somali pirates are still holding 54 hostages and two ships in captivity and warned of more danger posed by the gunmen. Piracy off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden reduced drastically in 2012 as only 75 incidents including 14 hijackings were attributed to Somali pirates who continue to threaten an extended geographical region, according to a global maritime watchdog. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said in a global piracy report recently that only five attacks were reported in the last quarter of 2012, adding that the number of Somali hijackings was halved from 28 in 2011 to 14 last year. The maritime watchdog said the drop is likely due to the increased/active military action on suspected skiffs, military land based anti-piracy operations, preventive measures and increased use of armed guards on board ships as well as the monsoon season.