News

Basque tuna boat Albacan on Thursday escaped from a pirate attack in the Indian ocean about 350 miles off the Kenyan shore. There was a shooting and the attackers threw a grenade to the ship, but no one was injured.

As the Albacora shipping company told news agency EFE, the attack took place about 8am (Spanish time). The trawler has already left the area and the crew have resumed their activity.

Somali pirates are currently holding six hijacked ships and 132 sailors, including those aboard the Al Nisr Al Saudi, according to the EU Naval Force.

That figure may increase in coming months. Pirate attacks typically spike during March, April and May, when calmer seas make it easier for pirates to board ships.

Somalia has been torn apart by civil war for the past 19 years. The shaky U.N.-backed government is barely able to hold a few blocks of its capital and is too focused on fighting an Islamist insurgency to send its forces after pirates.