UN says pirates have kidnapped 65 vessels in Somalia in 2008

UN says pirates have kidnapped 65 vessels in Somalia in 2008 and The United Nations (UN) gave authorization for countries to use "all that is necessary to maintain order and rebuke" the actions of pirates. The resolution was signed in June and is valid until December 1, 2008.
The intention of the UN is ending the actions of pirates mainly near Somalia. According to the organization, 65 vessels were captured this year alone in Somali waters and the pirates have already received about $ 30 million in ransoms.

In a report to the Security Council, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, warned this week that the increase in acts of piracy seriously affect international trade in the area and weakened the Somali government, and deepening the humanitarian crisis in the country.
According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which has 172 members, including Brazil, the Somali pirates are with the power of 18 ships and more than 300 sailors kidnapped.

The Somali pirates who have kidnapped the Saudi oil tanker "Star Sirius" claiming the payment of a ransom of $ 25 million, reported to the agency "Efe" the director of the Program of Assistance Agency (MAP), headquartered in the Kenyan port of Mombasa , Andrew Mwangura.

Mwangura said that negotiations already moving between the pirates and Vela, owner of the vessel and subsidiary of oil company Saudi Aramco.

This Wednesday (19), a recording attributed to one of the pirates and disseminated by the television catariana "Al Jazira", claimed that the kidnappers demanded a ransom with money and had started to negotiate it.
The "Star Sirius", which is 5 miles from the shore from the town of Eyl in Puntland in northern Somalia, has on board a crew of 25 people, two Britons, two Poles, one Croatian, one Saudi and 19 Filipinos .

The pirates approached the "Sirius Star" last Saturday, very far from the waters of Puntland, in the Indian Ocean, 430 miles (800 kilometers) southeast of the Mombasa and 900 miles (1700 kilometers) south of Eyl.

According to Mwangura, between 30 and 40 pirates were controlling the ship, a tanker of 330 meters in length, with deadweight of more than 300 tons and with capacity to 2 million barrels of oil, the largest ship captured by Somali pirates since they started their activities in 2005.