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Old 04-14-2009, 11:27 AM  
F-U-Jimmy
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Somali pirates hijack 4 ships, take 60 hostages

Somali pirates captured four more ships and took more than 60 crew members hostage in a brazen hijacking spree, while the American captain who escaped their grip planned to reunite with his crew and fly home Wednesday to the United States.

The latest seizures were the Lebanese-owned cargo ship MV Sea Horse, the Greek-managed bulk carrier MV Irene E.M. and two Egyptian fishing boats. Maritime officials said the Irene carried 21 to 23 Filipino crew and the International Maritime Bureau reported 36 fishermen, all believed to be Egyptian, on the two boats.

It was not known exactly how many crew the Sea Horse had, but a ship that size would probably need at least a dozen sailors.

NATO spokeswoman Shona Lowe said pirates in three or four speedboats captured the Sea Horse off Somalia's eastern coast on Tuesday -- an attack that came only hours after the Irene was seized in a rare overnight raid in the nearby Gulf of Aden.

The two Egyptian fishing boats were hijacked in the gulf off Somalia's northern coast but it was not clear if those attacks came Monday or Sunday.

The Gulf of Aden, which links the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, is one of the world's busiest and most vital shipping lanes, crossed by over 20,000 ships each year. It has been at the center of the world's fight against piracy.

A flotilla of warships from nearly a dozen countries has patrolled the Gulf of Aden and nearby Indian Ocean waters for months. They have halted many attacks on ships this year, but say the area is so vast they can't stop all hijackin
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