Hijacked Danes go without food in Somalia

A Danish cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates earlier this month with five crew members aboard has run out of food and fresh water,Kenya's maritime official said on Monday.

Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the Mombasa-based Seafarers Assistance Program, said the Danica White's water purification equipment had failed because of the breakdown of vessel's generator.

"The vessel has run out of food and water supplies. Frantic efforts is being made to repair the generator which broke down leading to the failure of the vessel's water purification equipment," Mwangura said by telephone.

Mwangura said the Danica White was carrying building and construction material, adding that frantic efforts are underway to secure the release of the vessel and the crew members.

"Negotiations are still underway for the release of the vessel. Somalia Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi met the shipowners in Nairobi last week and promised to secure the release of the vessel, " said Mwangura.

More than ten ships have been hijacked off the coast of Somalia since this year, but all the crew members for some of the freed ships have returned safely after successful negotiations between rescuers and hijackers.

The surge in piracy in the waters off the Somali coast, Africa's longest and one of the world's dangerous, has sparked global outcry with the United Nations calling for international action to combat Somalia's "plague of piracy", saying it threatened vital aid deliveries to some 1 million people.