By IRNA,
Madrid : The government of Spain is setting up a crisis team to handle the capture of a Spanish fishing boat off the coast of Somalia.
Four pirates are asking for a ransom for the 26 crewmen of the tuna trawler, the Playa de Bakio.
On Sunday, they reportedly attacked the vessel with grenade launchers and then boarded it.
A Spanish military frigate is also heading to the attack zone.
Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega says a solution is at hand: “We’re working on it. We’re keeping tabs on the situation minute by minute and we hope there will soon be a happy ending to all this. We’re working to bring this about.” In the last year alone, more than 25 ships have been seized by pirates in waters off Somalia.
The head of a Spanish tuna entrepreneurs’ association, Angel Angulo, says the industry has complained about the danger for the past two years:
“I’m making an urgent appeal to governments who have ships in the area, whether official craft or fishing vessels, to find a solution to the piracy problem.”
And according to the daughter of the captain of the seized boat, Rosa Alvarez, the crew weren’t even told of a similar attack on another boat in the same area.
The incident comes just weeks after Somali pirates seized a French luxury yacht in that zone and held its crew hostage.
They were paid a ransom and fled but they have since been captured and charged.