Скачать или смотреть Greek-owned cargo ship seized by Somali pirates released

(4 Dec 2008) SHOTLIST
++QUALITY AS INCOMING++
1. Wide pan of released Greek-owned ship "Centauri"
2. Mid of ship
3. Mid of Kenyan police and port officials waiting to get on board the released ship
4. Los-angle shot of policeman climbing up ladder onto deck
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) John Nyanziwii, Mombasa Port C.I.D (Criminal Investigation Department) officer:
"The ship was hijacked on the 18th of September, this year, at around 2:45 am as the ship was heading towards Mombasa from the port of Hasmal. It was loaded with 15,500 tonnes of salt and on board were 26 crew all of Philippine nationality."
6. Mid of crew sitting on deck
7. SOUNDBITE: (English) John Nyanziwii, Mombasa Port C.I.D (Criminal Investigation Department) officer:
"Nobody was injured during the hijacking incident, the crew and the pilot say the pirates were friendly at times and they would share food when the crew ran short of food."
8. Various of crew members
9. Wide of Kenyan police on deck
STORYLINE:
A Greek-owned cargo ship, the Centauri, arrived at its original destination of Monbasa on Wednesday, after spending almost two months at the hands of Somali pirates.
The ship was seized as it was sailing from Ethiopia to the Kenyan port, carrying 15,500 tonnes of salt.
But pirates released it last week and handed back all 26 Filipino crew unharmed, officials said.
Speaking on Wednesday, Mombasa Port officer John Nyanziwii confirmed the crew were safe and had been treated relatively well by their captors.
Pirates have attacked about 100 ships off the Somali coast this year and hijacked 40 vessels.
They still hold 14 ships along with more than 250 crew members, according to maritime officials.
The bandits have been growing bolder in their scale of attacks in the Gulf of Aden, a major international shipping lane, with recent incidents including the successful capture of a Ukrainian cargo ship laden with tanks and a Saudi oil tanker carrying 100 (m) million US dollars in crude oil.
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, and pirates have taken advantage of the country's lawlessness to launch attacks on foreign shipping from the Somali coast, bringing in about 30 (m) million US dollars in ransoms this year alone.
International naval patrols have been set up to fight the increasingly brazen attacks in the Gulf waterway through which about 20 tankers sail daily.
The US navy says it is impossible to patrol all 2.5 (m) million square miles (6.5 million square kilometres) of dangerous waters.
It has called on ship owners to hire private security contractors to protect vulnerable vessels, leading to a boom in business some contractors fear will encourage unlicensed or inexperienced companies to cash in.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to address the United Nations Security Council on the subject of piracy at a session on December 16.

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