Somali Pirates Hijack North Korea's Cargo Ship

Somali pirates have once again struck, this time hijacking a North Korean cargo ship on Wednesday with an unknown number of crew on board, the European Union Naval Force said.

The 4,800-ton ship is owned by Libya’s White Sea Shipping and it is not clear how many crew members were on board or where they came from. The attack comes two days after pirates released a Greek-owned vessel and its crew months after hijacking it off Somalia.

Commander Anders Kallin of the EU Naval Force said that MV Rim was seized outside the patrol base of the EU Naval Force. The Horn of Africa nation is the perfect breeding ground for pirate’s base because the U.N.-backed transitional federal government is too busy fighting two Islamist insurgent groups to patrol its shores or go after pirates on land.

The presence of warships from the European Union, the United States, China, Japan, Russia, India and other nations has reduced the number of attacks on merchant and leisure ships in the Gulf of Aden, Newstime Africa reports.

The MV Rim is the third ship seized by Somali pirates this year. Its crew will join more than 180 sailors being held hostage along the Somali coast.

Most Somalis are impoverished and many have suffered from almost two decades of fighting. The anarchic Horn of Africa nation is the perfect pirate base because the weak U.N.-backed government is too busy fighting an Islamist insurgency to patrol its shores or go after pirates on land.

The multimillion dollar ransoms that pirates command are one of the few remaining ways for Somalis to make money. Experts say the problems will only get worse unless the security situation on land improves, The Washington Post informs.