AFP/Abu Dhabi


The Abu Dhabi National Tanker Company bulk carrier Arrilah-I is seen in this photograph provided by its owners on their website
United Arab Emirates special forces yesterday freed an Abu Dhabi-owned ship seized by pirates east of Oman in the Arabian Sea, a military official told state news agency Wam.
“A special counter-terrorism unit, backed by air force units and in co-ordination with the (Bahrain-based) US Fifth Fleet, stormed the ship. The hijackers subsequently surrendered,” the official said.
The UAE had said earlier that special forces had moved to free the MV Arrilah-I which was hijacked by pirates early on Friday while en route from Australia to Dubai in the UAE.
“MV Arrilah-I is now heading with all its crew to the shores of the UAE, and the pirates will be handed over to interior ministry officials upon reaching Jebel Ali” port in Dubai, the official said.
The bulk carrier is owned by a shipping subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, ADNOC. The operator said earlier yesterday that “all crew members are safe and in good health.
MV Arrilah-I is a “37,000 metric tonne deadweight, Handy Size Bulk Carrier,” according to the owner statement.
It is owned by Abu Dhabi National Tanker Company (ADNATCO) and National Gas Shipping Company (NGSCO) which are together a subsidiary of ADNOC and own and operate a fleet of carriers for transporting LNG, petroleum products and sulphur.
Pirates armed with rocket-propelled grenades on Monday hijacked a Kuwaiti crude oil tanker carrying 29 crew including 17 Pakistanis southeast of Oman, the European Union’s naval forces said.
The Zirku was seized some 250 nautical miles southeast of the Omani port of Salalah, the EU naval forces said in a statement.
Somali pirates have infested the waters of the Gulf of Aden, southwest of the Arabian Sea, making it one of the world’s most dangerous waterways in terms of piracy.
Pirates have also extended their attacks farther out in the Indian Ocean.
They now hold at least 31 vessels and 694 hostages who were captured off the coast of Somalia, a lawless, war-torn country that sits alongside one of the world’s most important shipping routes.