BIMCO seafarer to execution by Somali pirates

gCaptain - 

INTERCARGO, INTERTANKO and the International Transport Workers’ Federation have issued a joint statement expressing their outrage that Somali pirates have executed, apparently in cold blood, a seafarer on the merchant ship Beluga Nomination which had been attacked and hijacked by armed pirates on 22 January in the Indian Ocean, 390 nautical miles north of the Seychelles.

Three seafarers were reportedly taken aside for ‘punishment’ after an attempt by the Seychelles coastguard to free the hostage crew resulted in the death of a pirate.

“The international shipping industry is truly disturbed at reports that pirates have been torturing seafarers physically and mentally, often in the most barbaric ways,” the statement read, “including hanging them over the ship’s side by ropes around their ankles with their heads under water and even subjecting them to the horrendous practice of keelhauling.”

The grouping urged governments to empower their naval forces to take fast and robust action against pirates, and the vessels under their control, before passing ships are boarded and hijacked.

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