Somali pirates seize Algerian ship
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Somali pirates seized an Algerian cargo ship Saturday carrying 27 sailors including 17 Algerians next to Omani coasts. with an international crew in the Indian Ocean, the European Union anti-piracy force said on Sunday.
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The MV Blida was pirated in the Indian Ocean southeast of the Arabian Peninsula. It was coming from the port of Salalah, Oman heading for the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam. It carried 20,586 tons of a substance used in making cement.
The pirates did not present any request while similar operations showed that pirates ask for important sums to release seized ships.
Spokesman for counter-piracy forces said the attack took place on Saturday 150 nautical miles south-east of the port of Salalah.
He did not give any further details but he said the ship and its crew were taken to an unknown place.
Usually, Somali pirates asked for ransom to release the ships and their crews.
According to counter-piracy European forces, the number of seized ships is estimated at 28 carrying 654 hostages. The counter-piracy European forces are supervised by the US. They conducted patrols to protect ships. Yet, piracy operations did not stop.
