Nairobi: A giant car carrier, operated by Eukor and owned by Zodiac Maritime Agencies, is reportedly being deployed by Somali pirates as a mother ship on raids out into the Indian Ocean.
The ship was nabbed on January 1, some 1,100 km off the Somali coast with a crew predominantly from eastern Europe. The 4,500 unit carrier was en route from Ulsan to Saudi Arabia with 2,405 cars, of which 2,388 were Hyundais, the manufacturer which Eukor has long held an exclusive relationship with. Security experts were baffled at how the pirates had managed to board the car carrier, given its vertiginous 23 m freeboard. The ship then made for the Somali coast, where presumably the cars were offloaded.
Wire reports on Sunday suggested the ship is now back out at sea, helping pirates snare more victims further out into the ocean. Meanwhile, Russian wire reports said that the pirates had mock staged the execution of the Bulgarian master of the British flagged Asian Glory. [01/02/10]
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