British tourists narrowly avoid being captured by Somali pirates also..Somali forces seize two Greek ships after shoot-out

The tourist party had disembarked just hours before the luxury Indian Ocean Explorer and its seven-man crew, all from the Seychelles, were seized.The 115ft long vessel is a former oceanographic research ship converted for dive trips popular with well-heeled British and American tourists.ruises between seven and 12 days start at £2,000 per person aboard the seven-bedroom ship."We are thankful that our guests were not affected, but we are of course very concerned for the welfare of the crew," said Lynda Teasdale of Aquatours, a London-based firm which arranges dive trips on the boat."There is very little information about where they are going. We can only hope that this is over as soon as is possible." The attack took place 600 miles west of Mahe, the main island in the Seychelles archipelago, in a cluster of coral atolls called Aldabra, a World Heritage Site."The vast majority of tourists come to the inner island resorts but a small number are more intrepid and visit the outer islands," said Fergus Cochrane-Dyet, Britain's High Commissioner to the Seychelles...more..http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/seychelles/5096521/British-tourists-narrowly-avoid-being-captured-by-Somali-pirates.html

BOSASSO, Somalia (Reuters) - Security forces in northern Somalia's Puntland region seized two Greek fishing vessels after a gun battle Thursday and accused them of fishing illegally in its waters.Puntland coastguard boss Abdiweli Ali told reporters one of his men had been injured in the shoot-out at sea off the Horn of Africa."We wanted to know the legitimacy of these two ships, but as we approached they opened fire on us," he said. "We defended ourselves. One of our soldiers was injured. Their fishing licenses were expired, and that is why they fought us."Somali authorities have long accused European fishing fleets of illegally trawling their waters -- which are also roamed by pirate who hijacked dozens of vessels last year.The two Greek ships were brought to Bosasso port, witnesses said, but reporters were stopped from taking pictures of them. Their names and details of their crews not immediately clear.The fisheries minister of the semi-autonomous Puntland region contradicted the coastguard and said the two Greek vessels did have valid fishing licenses were expired, and that is why they fought us."Somali authorities have long accused European fishing fleets of illegally trawling their waters -- which are also roamed by pirate who hijacked dozens of vessels last year.The two Greek ships were brought to Bosasso port, witnesses said, but reporters were stopped from taking pictures of them. Their names and details of their crews not immediately clear.The fisheries minister of the semi-autonomous Puntland region contradicted the coastguard and said the two Greek vessels did have valid fishing licenses."The captain of one of the ships called us when they were surrounded," said Mohamed Saleh. "I told the coastguard not to attack ... But they turned a deaf ear and captured the ships."(Reporting by Abdiqani Hassan; Writing by Daniel Wallis, edited by Richard Meares)