WFP Food Aid Ship Hijacked Off Somalia North East Coast

The World Food Programme announced today that the MV Rozen, a
WFP-contracted vessel, was hijacked off the coast of north-eastern
Somalia, somewhere near Bargal, north of Hafun in the state of Puntland
at around 0935 yesterday, Sunday, 25 February 2007.


On board the vessel are 12 crew members, six Sri Lankans, including the
captain, and six Kenyans. The ship had just delivered 1,800 metric
tonnes of WFP food aid and FAO equipment in Berbera and in Bossaso and
was sailing empty back to Mombasa. The ship is now reported to be
anchored off Bargal, in Somali waters.


Early last year, MV Rozen escaped an attempted hijack in southern Somali
waters. Her sister vessel, the MV Semlow, was hijacked with WFP relief
food on board for more than 100 days in Somali waters in June 2005. The
crew was released unharmed. Another vessel with WFP food aid, the MV
Miltzow, was also hijacked for 33 hours in October 2005 while it was in
the process of unloading food in the port of Merka.


"WFP is highly concerned about the safety of crew members and the
vessel. Such acts of piracy might undermine the delivery of relief food
to vulnerable people in Somalia and could further worsen the prevailing
precarious humanitarian situation", said Peter Goossens, WFP Country
Director for Somalia.


WFP is currently in close contact with Somalia's Transitional Federal
Government (TFG), the Puntland authorities, and with the vessel's
agents, to obtain the most accurate information and to ensure the
earliest release of the vessel and crew.


In 2005, after the hijacks, WFP temporarily had to suspend deliveries of
food aid by sea for some weeks, but since then sea deliveries have been
uninterrupted, even during the worst days of the conflict between the
TFG and the Union of Islamic Courts (ICU) at the end of last year.


In 2006, WFP delivered some 78,000 metric tonnes of relief food to 1.4
million people affected by drought and floods in southern Somalia.






WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency: each year, we give food
to an average of 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs,
including 58 million hungry children, in at least 80 of the world's
poorest countries.


WFP Global School Feeding Campaign - For just 19 US cents a day, you can
help WFP give children in poor countries a healthy meal at school - a
gift of hope for a brighter future.



For further information please go to:
World Food Program WFP - We Feed People