VOA标准英语2008年-Two More Ships Hijacked Off Somalia Coast

Pirates have hijacked¹ two more ships off the coast of Somalia, an Iranian cargo² vessel³, and a Japanese-operated tanker⁴. As Derek Kilner reports from VOA's East Africa bureau in Nairobi, the attacks are the latest in a string of attacks in the busy and dangerous shipping⁵ corridor.

The latest attacks, which took place within an hour of each other, follow the hijacking⁶ Wednesday of a Malaysian tanker with 39 crew members aboard. Six ships have now been seized by pirates in the Gulf⁷ of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen, in the past month.

Andrew Mwangura, of the East Africa Seafarers Assistance Program in Kenya, said the three most recent attacks were likely carried out by the same group of Somali pirates.

"We think this must be the same group because the modus operandi they used is the same," he said. "I think this must be the so-called "Somali Marines". We haven't made any communication, we are waiting to do it later in the evening."
　
The Japanese Koyo Kaiun-operated tanker Irene (file photo)

An official with the International Maritime⁸ Bureau in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Noel Choong, said there were 19 crew members aboard the Japanese ship. The number on the Iranian boat is unknown. Choong said an international naval⁹ task force operating in the region had been notified.

The Malaysian ship hijacked on Wednesday is thought to be headed toward the town of Eyl, a base for pirates in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, in the north of Somalia.

Piracy¹⁰ has long been a major problem in the Gulf of Aden, where a busy shipping corridor connecting the Indian Ocean with the Red Sea, passes by lawless Somalia, which has been without a central government since 1991.

In a potentially lucrative¹¹ enterprise, pirates regularly seize cargo ships and their crew, demanding ransom¹² payments. Earlier this month, Thai and Nigerian ships were hijacked. A Japanese vessel was seized in July.

The threat of piracy has also complicated the delivery of humanitarian¹³ aid to Somalia, where lawlessness and banditry have made overland transport increasingly difficult.

Over one million people have been displaced by a conflict between the struggling provisional government, backed by Ethiopian troops, and Islamist-led insurgents¹⁴, in what U.N. officials have called Africa's worst humanitarian crisis.

The U.N. Security Council voted in June to allow international warships¹⁵ to go after pirates operating in Somalia's waters, but there has so far been little increase in the international naval presence.

 

1 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

2 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

3 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

4 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

5 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

6 hijacking   

n. 劫持, 抢劫 动词hijack的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• I have been told about the hijacking . 我已听说了那次劫机事件。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语
• They are taking measures to guarantee against the occurrence of hijacking. 他们正采取措施防止劫机事件的发生。

7 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

8 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

9 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

10 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

11 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

12 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

13 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

14 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

15 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。