MOMBASA, KENYA: Two Kenyan nationals are being held hostage after Somali pirates seized a merchant ship they were sailing on Saturday.
Although most of the sailors and crew are Zanzibari and Chinese, the captain is Kenyan. There is also a Kenyan engineer on board.
Andrew Mwangura, the secretary general of the Seafarers Union of Kenya, says MV Jamila was attacked by pirates while being repaired at sea between Uarseiek and El Maan, 40 miles from Mogadishu.
Reports say the Chinese-owned ship was laden with timber it was transporting to Mombasa. The vessel had left Mozambique and sailed to Mogadishu from where it was to come to Mombasa on Wednesday, but developed mechanical problems in the high seas.
It then drifted to the a landing site south of Mogadishu on Thursday, and local residents began to loot it. Yesterday, armed men believed to pirates or Al Shabaab terrorists boarded and took charge of it.
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