Armed pirates try to get Aden cargo ship [Archives:2004/710/Front Page]

By News Services
Pirates armed with shotguns tried to board a general cargo ship at a Yemeni oil terminal in the Gulf of Aden, where terrorists attacked the tanker Limburg in 2002, according to the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre.
The four robbers fled in speedboats after making several attempts to board the vessel at the Ash Shihr oil terminal on Jan 29, the IMB said.
The incident was one of eight reported to the IMB, worldwide, during the week ended Feb 4.
'This incident is worrying since it happened at the same place as the Limburg,' Jayant Abhyankar, the bureau's director, said from London. The crude-oil tanker Limburg was rammed by a boat packed with explosives in October 2002. One crewmember was killed and several others injured in the attack.
Piracy attacks on ships worldwide rose 20 per cent last year to 445, the second-highest number of incidents reported in more than a decade, according to the centre, which is part of the International Chamber of Commerce's Commercial Crime Services unit.
Three crewmembers were feared drowned after an attack off Vietnam where armed pirates opened fire at two vessels and ordered its 18-member crew to jump overboard, the IMB said. A fourth crew member was seriously injured in the attack on Sunday.
Two days earlier, four speedboats carrying masked pirates approached a chemical tanker off Indonesia. The attackers fled after the vessel's crew shone searchlights on them. On the same day, an oil tanker came under attack from robbers with knives at the Indonesian oil port of Balikpapan. The pirates fled with two life craft, the IMB said.
——
[archive-e:710-v:13-y:2004-d:2004-02-09-p:front]