Region | Egypt
Red Sea littoral states to meet
Piracy and armed hijacking of ships and boats off the Somali coast will be the main issue to be discussed on Thursday in the Egyptian capital Cairo by the Red Sea littoral states, Yemeni official participating in the meeting said on Wednesday.
- By Nasser Arrabyee, Correspondent
- Published: 23:15 November 19, 2008
Cairo: Piracy and armed hijacking of ships and boats off the Somali coast will be the main issue to be discussed on Thursday in the Egyptian capital Cairo by the Red Sea littoral states, Yemeni official participating in the meeting said on Wednesday.
The security, legal and economic dimensions of the piracy phenomenon will be discussed in the meeting which begins today, Ali Mohammad Al Ayashi, Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs, told reporters before leaving for Cairo.
The official made it clear that the meeting will confirm that the protection of the Red Sea is the responsibility of the littoral states, not any other countries.
"The participants in this meeting will coordinate the efforts and reactivate the proposals of the Muscat and Dar Es Salaam meetings which were held under the sponsorship of the International Maritime Organisation in an effort to finalise a memorandum of understanding for fighting piracy," the official said.
The meeting came after three days after a Saudi Arabian oil super tanker was hijacked off the Somalia coast with about 2 million barrels of oil on board.
The Somali pirates have hijacked more than 60 ships this year.
The pirates usually demand ransoms in return for releasing the hijacked ships.
The British Chatham House estimated the ransoms obtained by the Somali pirates this year to be $18-30 million.
The increasing piracy acts made some big countries to send naval ships to combat the pirates. The countries overlooking the Red Sea, like Yemen, expressed concerns over the multinational military presence.
127 Filipinos in custody
Meanwhile the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs said a total of 127 Filipino seamen are being held hostage aboard seven vessels hijacked by pirates off the Somalia coast this year.
The figure includes 19 Filipinos who were among the 25-member crew of the Saudi super-tanker Sirius Star.
Crescente Relacion, the department's executive director for migrant workers, said there was very little the government could do to solve the problem.
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