Somali pirates release Algerian ship

Somali pirates have released an Algerian-flagged ship which they hijacked in January with 27 crew members, European Union anti-piracy task force said on Monday. The EU Naval Force Somalia said the MV Blida which was released from piracy control late on Nov. 4 was seized in Jan. 1, approximately 150 nautical miles southeast of the port of Salalah, Oman, while enroute to Dar es Salaam. "The 20,586 tonne Bulk Carrier MV BLIDA, Algerian flagged and owned, was pirated on Jan.1, while enroute to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from Salalah, Oman," The EU Naval Force Somalia spokesperson Harrie Harrison said in a statement received here on Monday. The vessel with 25 Algerians and two Ukrainians is now en route to Mombasa, Kenya. The EU Naval Force Somalia is a counter-piracy taskforce operating in the area of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. It is responsible for deterring, preventing and repressing acts of piracy, and for the safe escort of ships carrying humanitarian aid of the World Food Program and vessels of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and to protect other vulnerable vessels. The attacks are being carried out by increasingly well- coordinated Somali gangs armed with automatic weapons and rocket- propelled grenades, maritime officials said. Combined Task Force 150, a naval alliance dominated by the United States and based in the Gulf of Aden nation of Djibouti, is patrolling an area within the Gulf of Aden to help protect ships from pirates.