Somali hijackers capture chemical tanker

Somali hijackers capture chemical tanker Somali pirates have hijacked a Japanese-owned, Panamanian-flagged chemical tanker over the weekend, according to a Reuters report Monday.
   The news agency cited Andrew Mwangura, head of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, who said sources in both Somalia and Japan had confirmed the vessel was seized eight nautical miles offshore on Sunday morning.
   “We are trying to establish what demands they have, and how many people were on board,” Mwangura told Reuters by telephone from the Kenyan port city of Mombasa. '”There are five well-organized pirate groups operating in Somali waters. We know the one which took this boat,” he said.
   According to the report, the vessel is the 12,000 deadweight-ton Golden Nory, and had 22 South Korean, Filipino and Burmese crew abroad. It's also the fifth vessel to be captured in the same region in the last week.
   “Things are not good,' Mwangura told Reuters. 'We advise ships that are not going to Somalia to stay 200 nautical miles off the coast.'