Somali pirates take over Somali vessel to use as mothership: Police

Pirates have seized control of a Somali fishing boat to use as a base from which to attack larger ships, police said on Friday, a week after Somali pirates hijacked their first commercial vessel since 2012.

Ten Yemeni crew aboard the boat were dumped on shore, officials told Reuters.

"We understand that pirates hijacked the fishing vessel to hijack a big ship off the ocean," said Abdirahman Mohamud, head of maritime police forces in the semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland.

"They dropped its 10 Yemeni crew and a Somali guard inland and disappeared with the boat together with the food, cook, captain and engineer," he told Reuters.

Residents of Marrayo, a northern village near the pirate lair of Eyl, confirmed that pirates from their village had gone to hunt potential targets.

It is the second attack by pirates this month. On March 13, pirates seized a small oil tanker in the same region.

The pirates involved in Friday's attack are not seeking to hold the ship and its crew for ransom, but rather use the vessel as a "mothership", or launch pad for attacks on bigger ships.

"We're starting to see copycat attacks and there is a growing realisation that the shipping industry is taking huge risks," said John Steed, a former British defense attache who has worked on piracy for around a decade.

Those risks included sailing too close to the Somali coast becoming more relaxed about security needs.

SS