Hijacked ship located

Authorities finally found the Japanese cargo ship that went missing recently after it was hijacked by pirates.
The authorities, in a report, said the ship has been spotted docked at a port controlled by Somali pirates.

However, the report added, that the crew of the Panama-flag, Japanese operated cargo ship Izumi is nowhere to be found as of yet.

The 14,000-ton vessel sent a distress signal from waters off Kenya’s port city of Mombasa, and crew on another ship in the area later reported that pirates had boarded the Izumi.

The ship had been carrying steel products from Japan via Singapore towards Mombasa, said its Tokyo-based operator NYK-Hinode Line.

Japan’s transport minister Sumio Mabuchi said Tokyo was “nervously” watching developments while cooperating with the International Maritime Organization in dealing with the suspected pirate attack.

Japan last year joined the United States, China and more than 20 other countries in the maritime operation against pirates who have attacked ships off the Horn of Africa, a key route leading to the Suez Canal.

Tokyo has also dispatched two maritime surveillance aircraft and scores of military personnel to beef up its anti-piracy mission, although their operations are restricted by the country’s pacifist constitution. Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force has deployed two destroyers to escort ships in the pirate-infested gulf, and said last month that it had so far provided safe passage for more than 1,000 ships.

The EU anti-piracy mission said recently that Somali pirates were holding 17 ships with 369 hostages.