Two Spaniards aboard hijacked fishing vessel in Indian Ocean

A fishing vessel carrying a Spanish captain and boatswain, which was hijacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean on December 28, was yesterday being directed to the Somali coast. The Vega V, sailing under the Mozambique flag with a 24-man crew, was apparently "hundreds of miles south of waters" where the European anti-piracy fleet Operation Atalanta is patrolling when it was captured.

Diplomatic sources have said that the attack is similar to that suffered by the Sakoba, a vessel sailing under the Kenyan flag with a Spanish owner and captain, and not that of the Alakrana, a Spanish flag-bearing vessel that was under the control of pirates for 47 days in 2009. In other words, the government will support the company that owns the Vega V, Spanish firm Pescamar, but it will not lead negotiations.

Yesterday, the Foreign, Environment and Defense ministries began to coordinate with Spanish embassies in Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya to secure the release of the two Spaniards. The Vega V, said government sources, is "under permanent monitoring, sailing toward a Somali port."

While secretary of state for foreign affairs, Juan Antonio Yáñez, yesterday spoke of an "incident," Atlanta heads were in no doubt that the Vega V had been hijacked. "We have asked all of our vessels that are currently in the Mozambique Channel to maximize precautions," Juana Parada, director of the Galician organization of longliner fishing vessels, said.