Spanish Seiner “Playa de Bakio” Seized By Somali Piratesff

Pirates holding 26 crew members on a Spanish fishing boat off the Somali coast demanded money Monday for their release, a day after storming the vessel armed with grenade launchers.

Speaking in broken English on a Spanish national radio station, a man who appeared to be one of the pirates said they wanted "money," after snatching the phone from the boat's captain who had been contacted on board.

"I am the captain of the boat... we are all well and there is no problem, for the moment there is no problem," the skipper said in Spanish, before being interrupted by the pirate who said he was a member of a "Somalia militia."

A Spanish military frigate was meanwhile heading from the Red Sea to the area of the seizure off east Africa, a government source said earlier.

Spain's foreign ministry said in a statement that the tuna fishing boat, the Playa de Bakio, "was boarded and apparently seized while it was fishing in Somali waters" at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT) on Saturday, but that no one was hurt.

Thirteen of the crew are Spanish nationals, it said, while Spanish media reported that their 13 crewmates are African nationals.

Four pirates armed with grenade launchers seized the boat some 400 kilometers (250 miles) off the coast of Somalia, government officials from the Basque region where the boat is based told the Europa Press news agency.

The ship was damaged in the attack but it was still able to sail and had appeared to be headed towards land, they added Saturday.

The defense ministry has also been in contact with military officials of nations with a military presence in the area to request help in locating the boat, the Spanish government statement added.

The seizure came two days after a Paris court charged six Somalis with taking the crew of a French luxury yacht hostage earlier this month.

The six were captured by French special forces, along with 200,000 dollars (125,000 euros) of suspected ransom money, after they released the 30-strong crew of the yacht on April 11. They had held the group hostage for a week.

The Spanish fishing boat was seized in the same area where the French yacht was attacked, Spanish radio RNE added.

The coastal waters of Somalia, which has not had an effective central government for more than 17 years and is plagued by insecurity, are considered to be among the most hazardous in the world.

Last year more than 25 ships were seized by pirates in Somali coastal waters despite US navy patrols.

The International Maritime Bureau advises merchant ships to stay at least 200 nautical miles from the Somali coast.