Pirates release Yemeni boat, 10 crew

ADEN, Dec. 26 (Saba) – Somali pirates have released a Yemeni fishing
boat, Faluja, along with ten fishermen held earlier in the Gulf of
Aden, the al-tagheer.com has said.

The website cited a source at the coastguards in Aden as saying the
fishermen have already arrived in Aden.

On December 10, coastguards in the province received a note that two
Yemeni fishing boats, Faluja and al-Qana'a, were seized by Somali
pirates while fishing in the Gulf of Aden.

Seven fishermen of those who were onboard the two boats managed to
escape the pirate attack, and Coastguards became aware about the
incident through them.

They told coastguards that about 22 were seized along with the boats.

Pirates stepped up attacks on vessels off Somalia's coast and in the
Gulf of Aden, with almost 100 vessels attacked so far this year.

40 were already hijacked along with their crews, including a Saudi
supertanker carrying 2 millions barrels of oil worth $ 100 million.

In the most recent attack, Somali pirates seized four ships in the
Gulf of Aden on the same day the United Nations Security Council
okayed countries to pursue the gunmen on land.

Pirates hijacked an Indonesian boat, a Turkish cargo ship, a Chinese
fishing vessel and a yacht on Tuesday, all in one the world's
busiest shipping lanes.

Piracy off Somalia's coast and in the Gulf of Aden has soared this
year with pirates bringing in million dollars as they usually ask
for ransoms for the release of ships they hijack.