British tanker with Ukrainian crew, which was seized by pirates, still not found

The HMS Camberland frigate has yet not found the British tanker with the Ukrainian crew, which was seized by pirates about two weeks ago near the coast of Somalia.

Some sources report that the seized vessel is currently located in the Bereda Gulf approximately 30 miles away from the Alula village.

The Mogadiscio radio quoted an eyewitness as saying that the crew was guarded by about a hundred of well-armed Somalian gangsters who had demanded the ship owners pay them a one-million-dollar ransom.

The vessel under the British flag whose name has not been disclosed so far was delivering crude oil from the Persian Gulf to South Africa when it was attacked by at least three high-speed boats with 15 pirates on-board.

The International Shipping Bureau has recommended that captains of ships sailing near the coast of Somalia should not approach it closer than a hundred sea miles because pirates are extremely active in the area.

This has been the third Somalian pirate attack on foreign vessels over the past month.