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Pirates hijack 4 Yemeni fishing vessels with 26 fishermen

31 July 2010 03:31 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Some pirates allegedly believed to be from Eritrea hijacked four Yemeni fishing vessels with 26 Yemeni fishermen onboard, according to a statement issued by the Yemeni Interior ministry on Friday, APA reports quoting news.xinhuanet.com website.

"Some pirates from Eritrea seized four Yemeni fishing vessels with 26 Yemeni fishermen onboard on Wednesday and forced them at gunpoint to sail to the Eritrea-based Maswa sea area," said the ministry’s statement, cited the country’s coastguard police at the Red Sea.

"Five of the 26 fishermen were released unscathed today and arrived in the Yemeni sea port of Medi while the rest was still held in captive," the police said.

Piracy is flourishing on the world commercial sea-lanes in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea where as many as 25,000 ships pass every year through the canal off Yemeni seashores.

The hijack usually ended with the release of all fishermen while their boats were confiscated by the pirates.