21 March 2009

Incident: Al Rafiquei boarded

The dhow Al Rafiquei is boarded by pirates in the Indian Ocean "approximately 130NM east of Hobyo."
Men in speed boats chased the dhow and then boarded it. They stole ship’s stores and crew personal belongings before releasing the vessel. The crew and dhow are safe and proceeding to a port in Somalia
(ONI Worldwide Threat to Shipping, 04/17/09)

Al Rafiquei is a cargo ship crewed by 26 Indians.
The pirates beat the crew, stole their mobile phones, and removed 5 barrels of petrol and 20 barrels of diesel. The ship was on its way from Dubai, UAE to Mogadishu, Somalia when it was intercepted by the pirates. Eventually they released the ship at 13:00 (UTC) on the same day.
(Wikipedia, "List of ships attacked by Somali pirates," 12/31/09)