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Marathon hostage killed during pirate hijack

26 June 2009

Somali pirates killed a Ukrainian crew member on the Dutch-owned Marathon, which they seized on 7 May. News of the death emerged when the pirates released the ship on 23 June, and the seafarer's body was found. He had been killed during the hijack; a second member of the eight-strong Ukrainian crew had been shot in the leg. A reported ransom of US$1.3 million was paid to free the ship.

Somali pirates still hold 14 ships and more than 200 seafarers, nearly a quarter of them Filipinos.

Japan is to step up its involvement in the Gulf of Aden. Japan's Parliament has agreed that Japanese warships patrolling the area can now protect any commercial ships threatened by pirates, not just those sailing under the Japanese flag or carrying Japanese nationals or cargo.

All attacks and suspicious sightings should be reported to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre, Tel: +603 2031 0014 (24 hours), Email: imbkl@icc-ccs.org.

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