National
Spanish fishing boat held hostage off the coast of Somalia
By h.b.
Apr 21, 2008 - 7:30 AM

A group of pirates have taken control of a Basque tuna fishing boat, ‘Playa de Bakio’ off the coast of Somalia. The boat has a crew of 26, 13 Africans, Eight Spaniards from Galicia and five more from the Basque Country.

There are no reports of any injuries in the take over of the vessel and now some sort of financial ransom is awaited. Three or four armed men are report to have carried out the attack at 1pm yesterday afternoon some 250 miles off the coast.

A Spanish navy frigate, currently in the Red Sea, is on its way to the area and the Spanish embassy in Kenya, with jurisdiction for Somalia, has started to established contacts with the authorities in the zone.