Arab News Portal

Shipping officials from around the world called Monday for a military blockade along Somalia’s coast to intercept pirate vessels heading out to sea. Yemen’s government said Somali pirates have seized another ship.

Peter Swift, managing director of the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners, said stronger naval action _ including aerial and aviation support _ is necessary to battle rampant piracy in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia.

But NATO, which has four warships off the coast of Somalia, rejected a blockade.

After Somali pirates shook the international maritime community on Tuesday, hijacking a Saudi supertanker with more than $100 million worth of crude oil, the Indian Navy has struck back.

An Indian warship came under attack on Wednesday from a suspected pirate “mother ship,” but managed to destroy the pirate ship, sending three speedboats packed with pirates fleeing for safety.

Meanwhile, the INS Tabar, a Russian-made, high-tech Indian warship, managed to thwart the attempted hijacking of an Indian cargo ship off the coast of Somalia.

A four-year conflict [see: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79410] between government forces and Shia rebels in the northern governorate of Saada has caused psychological problems for children and …

Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden seized a Hong Kong-registered cargo ship carrying 36,000 tonnes of wheat to Iran yesterday in the latest of the near-daily attacks threatening one of the world’s busiest …

Deep in Yemen’s restive desert, terrorists target a family of European tourists.

Two reports warn that ‘forgotten war’ and political upheaval in Gulf of Aden and Indian ocean mean lawless zone could grow Supporters and opponents of President Ali Abdullah Saleh face each other today in …

The theft of an oil-filled supertanker has piracy in the headlines, but its roots will not be beaten by gunboat diplomacy alone, writes Connie Levett.

Four suspected Somali pirates appear before the Mombasa Chief Magistrate. Photo: AP Richard Norton-Taylor in London November 21, 2008 SOMALI pirates who hijacked the Saudi oil supertanker Sirius Star are …

Attacks by pirates off the coast of Somalia have fiercely intensified, with five vessels reportedly hijacked in the past week, including Saudi-owned supertanker Sirius Star, the largest vessel ever seized at …

When Somali pirates last weekend seized the Sirius Star, a Saudi Arabian supertanker carrying $100 million worth of oil, they jolted a global shipping industry that’s long coped with threats on the high seas.