Puntland forces rescue another hijacked ship from Somali pirates


MOGADISHU, Sept 29 (Reuters) - ⁠Security forces from Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland state ⁠have rescued the MT Honour 25, a Palau-flagged ‌petroleum products tanker seized by pirates in April, Puntland's state television channel reported on Tuesday.

• The broadcaster said pirates ​who had been holding the vessel ⁠had been detained ⁠and would be brought to court.

• Puntland officials did ⁠not ‌respond to requests for comment.

• The MT Honour 25 was seized on April ⁠21 around 30 nautical miles off Puntland's ​coast with 17 ‌crew members on board, including 10 Pakistanis.

• ⁠The rescue ​follows a similar Puntland counter-piracy operation last week, when the regional maritime police force said it had ⁠freed the US-sanctioned tanker Sibu 1, ​which Somali pirates had hijacked in August.

• Piracy has resurfaced off Somalia's coast in recent years, raising ⁠concerns for shipping through the Gulf of Aden and the western Indian Ocean.

• A previous wave of Somali piracy from 2008 to 2014 disrupted ​one of the world's busiest ⁠shipping routes, cost the global economy billions of dollars ​and resulted in hundreds of ‌millions of dollars in ransom ​payments.

(Reporting by Abdi Sheikh and Abdiqani HassanWriting by Vincent Mumo NzilaniEditing by Peter Graff)

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