Norfolk ship may be near hijacked vessel

U.S. vessel attempting to aid hostages could be from Eisenhower strike group

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Somali authorities have arrested four suspects in the hijacking of a U.N.-chartered cargo ship delivering food aid this morning, but the MV Rozen is still under control of four pirates holding 12 crew members hostage with AK-47s, the U.N. said Tuesday.

A U.S. military vessel and three Somali police speedboats were attempting to aid the U.N. ship that was hijacked by pirates after delivering food aid to northeastern Somalia, a senior Somali police official said.

Lt. Commander Charles Brown of the 5th Fleet, speaking from Bahrain this morning, said he could not confirm whether the U.S. ship was one stationed in Virginia. Earlier this year, the Norfolk-based carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower was dispatched to that region. The Eisenhower's strike group , which deployed from Norfolk on Oct. 3, includes the USS Ramage, a guided-missile destroyer, and the USS Anzio, a guided-missile cruiser, both based in Norfolk; and the USS Ashland, a dock landing ship based at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base in Virginia Beach.

Last year, at least two Norfolk-based ships were involved with incidents involving suspected pirates off the coast of Africa.

Col. Abdi Ali Hagaafe, police chief of Somalia's Bari region said the police boats were within sight of the hijacked ship but "we asked them to stop going further because our biggest concern is the safety of the crew of 12 on board." He said the Somali government had asked the U.S. Navy for help, and "they told us they have started to move towards the ship."

Early this morning, four of the suspected pirates were arrested after they went ashore to buy supplies, Peter Goossens, the head of the U.N.'s World Food Program in Somalia, said in a statement.

"The arrest is welcome news, but the safe release of the crew and the vessel remains our chief concern," Goossens said. "We very much hope this ordeal will finish soon."

The pirates are armed with AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, said Andrew Mwangura, head of the Kenyan chapter of the Seafarers Assistance Program, an independent group that monitors piracy in the region.

"Negotiations are under way to try and secure the release of the vessel,"' he added. The conditions of the six Sri Lankan and six Kenyan crew members were unknown. The ship, hijacked Sunday, has been anchored six miles off the coast of the semiautonomous Puntland region in northeastern Somalia, near Bargal.

Source: AP, Feb 27, 2007