WORLD> Africa
NATO thwarts hijack off Somalia, seizes dynamite
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-03 09:54

"The captain reported two armed pirates but there may be more. We have not been contacted yet by the pirates regarding ransom," he said.

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One hijacked vessel, the Philippine tanker MT Stolt Strength, was held more than five months before a $2.5 million ransom was paid and the ship and 23 crew were released April 21.

Anxious relatives greeted the freed crew in a tearful homecoming Saturday at Manila airport.

The Somali pirates had seized the chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden on Nov. 10 while it was on its way to India with a cargo of phosphoric acid.

After dropping the pirates close to shore, the ship remained vulnerable, unable to speed to a safe harbor because it was low on fuel. German, US and Chinese naval vessels eventually came to their aid, providing food, medicine and fuel, which allowed them to sail to Oman where they stayed for two days before flying home to Manila.

Second Mate Carlo Deseo said the pirates' evident disorganization was the source of much of his fear.

They "did not seem to know what they were doing," he said.

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