Pirates and poachers?

The Somali clan that captured a South Korean tuna-fishing vessel off the coast of Somalia has denied they are pirates, saying instead that they are protecting Somalia's coast (something the dissolved Somali government, lacking a coast guard and navy since 1991, has not been able to do) from illegal fishing.

A spokesman for the militia group that captured the boat said this by two-way radio:

We are not pirates, but we are patriots who stood up to defend our sea resources from those taking advantage of their country's lack of central government and coastal guards.

According to South Korea's Foreign Ministry, the 361-ton 628 Dongwon was seized Tuesday afternoon by eight armed men who approached in two speedboats firing guns. It has twenty-five crew members: eight South Koreans, nine Indonesians, five Vietnamese, and three Chinese, all currently being held captive.

South Korean authorities dispute the militants' contentions, saying the boat was in international waters and was taken to Somalia's waters after it was seized.

Piracy off the coast of Somalia increased from two cases in 2004 to thirty-five cases in 2005. In an incident on March 18, two U.S. Navy ships exchanged gunfire with suspected pirates, killing one and wounding five. At that time as well, Somalis involved in that incident claimed they were patrolling Somali waters to stop illegal fishing when the U.S. ships fired on them.

A spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain, said U.S. and Dutch ships, responding to pleas from two other South Korean vessels nearby, tried to intercept the ship as it headed toward Somalian waters, firing warning shots in its direction. However, the spokesman said the Americans called off the operation when some of the South Korean crew were seen on deck with guns pointed at them.

UPDATE:
In a long overdue update tothis story, all twenty-five crew members of the Dongwon-ho #628, a 351-ton Korean tuna ship, have been released after 117 days in captivity.

Amazingly little was heard about this story during the captivity, with people I know — both Korean and otherwise — occasionally wondering if these men had been released and they had simply missed it.

Seoul has essentially given in to hostage-taker demands, to the tune of $800,000, according to Somali elders. In return they got their ship and their crew in tact. The group — eight Koreans, five Vietnamese, nine Indonesians, and three Chinese — are now getting medical checks in Kenya.

The Foreign Ministry confirmed late yesterday that the ROK ship was escorted by a US warship (our alliance at work) from Somali waters to Kenya. They also condemned the piracy going on off the coast of Somali, one of the three worst places in the world for piracy (along with the coastlines of Indonesia and Bangladesh).