• Radio silence from fishing vessel
• SL asks for assistance from CMS, India, US, China, and Bahrain

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has yesterday (28) contacted Somali authorities to seek the release of six Sri Lankan fishermen and a fishing vessel which is suspected to have been hijacked by Somali pirates 840 nautical miles off the Somali coast, last Saturday (27), The Daily Morning learns.

According to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Niluka Kadurugamuwa, Sri Lankan heads of mission in Africa are working tirelessly to collect information regarding the incident, and have got in touch with the Somali authorities regarding the hijacking which had occurred in the high seas. The vessel, ‘Lorenzo Putha (Son)–4” and its six member crew are believed to have been kidnapped by Somali pirates, who have recently renewed their piracy activities following the Red Sea crisis. “Our heads of Missions in the African region have already established contact with Somali authorities with a view to getting our nationals released at the earliest” Kadurugamuwa said.

According to the Ministry of Fisheries, ‘Lorenzo Putha–4” had departed on its maiden voyage from Dikowita fisheries harbour on 12 January, and had been engaged in fishing in the high seas in the Indian Ocean, between the Maldivian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and that of Somalia, when they were boarded by a vessel that other Sri Lankan fishing vessels in the vicinity had described as being similar to an ‘Iranian dhow’. Following brief distress calls from Lorenzo Puth that they were being boarded by armed individuals, all communications from the vessel had seized. The vessel had been 1160 Nautical miles away from Sri Lanka when the incident occurred. The status of the six fishermen, who include three from the same family and that of the fishing vessel are unknown as of going to print.

When contacted, The Sri Lanka Navy said all regional search and rescue agencies were promptly alerted, and that Sri Lanka as a member of the 40 state Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) based out of Bahrain, had sought its assistance to investigate and respond to the hijacking. Navy Spokesperson Captain Gayan Wickrememasuriya, said that India has indicated that they may redirect an Indian Navy warship in the region to investigate. Sri Lanka has also sought assistance from the United States, France and China, all of whom have multiple naval and air assets in the Gulf of Aden. Wickremesuriya also said that the Sri Lanka Navy has placed a long endurance Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) to dispatch to the area if ordered to do so.

CMF is the world’s largest multinational naval partnership, made up of voluntary nations, which Sri Lanka joined last year. According to the CMF, its main focus areas are counter-narcotics, counter-smuggling, suppressing piracy, encouraging regional cooperation, and engaging with regional and other partners to strengthen relevant capabilities in order to improve overall security and stability, and promoting a safe maritime environment free from illicit non-state actors.