VOA常速英语2007-North Korean Crew Overpowers Hijackers Off Somal

By Nick Wadhams
Nairobi
30 October 2007

Gunmen who seized a North Korean ship late Monday off the coast of Somalia were overpowered by the crew hours later. As Nick Wadhams reports from Nairobi, the hijacking¹ was the latest incident in what has become an increasingly lucrative² business for pirates prowling the waters of the lawless country.

The East African Seafarers' Assistance Program says the hijackers seized the vessel³ late Monday with two dozen sailors aboard. It said the crew managed to overpower its attackers Tuesday.

Assistance program leader Andrew Mwangura says the hijacking may have been a case of a business deal gone wrong, because those responsible appeared to be associated with the vessel's shipping⁴ agent.

He says that the hijackers have extensive knowledge of international shipping law and know that U.S.-led coalition⁵ warships⁶ in international waters will not reach them.

"According to the information these are not pirates, but these are the security guards hired by the local agents of the ship," said Mwangura. "So we think this might be business gone sour. You know there are these weak international laws and you know these gunmen, they are clever and they know much about international laws and some of them have a military background."

The seizure⁷ of the vessel was only the latest this year. The International Maritime⁸ Bureau says there have been at least 26 reported hijackings off the Somali coast in 2007 and several boats in the region are currently being held by gunmen. The real number is likely to be higher because some hijackings go unreported.

Officials and experts say that seizing the boats is a lucrative business for the hijackers. Ransom⁹ is often paid to win the release of the ships and their crews.

Somalia has been without an effective government since 1991, meaning there is no one from the national government patrolling its territorial¹⁰ waters.

An analyst¹¹ with the International Maritime Bureau, Cyrus Nody, tells VOA the pirates are in little danger of getting nabbed unless coalition forces intervene, which is rare.

"That is one of the biggest reasons why the pirates have a free hand pretty much doing whatever they want along the coastline," said Nody. "At this point of time, for hijackings Somalia is a very very dangerous place. Hijacking for them is an easy source of money more than anything else. What exactly happens to the money after it has been paid is extremely debatable."

The U.S. Navy said coalition forces patrolling the Red Sea region had opened fire on pirates who seized a chemical tanker¹² on Sunday, destroying speedboats the hijackers typically use in their raids.

Vessels¹³ often have little choice but to pass along the Somali coast, which sits along an important shipping route between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Boats are urged to stay 200 nautical¹⁴ miles from the coast, but many drift closer. The area has also been plagued by illegal fishing.

The problem of piracy¹⁵ off Somalia has gotten so bad that the U.N. Security Council has urged member nations to be vigilant¹⁶ and protect merchant ships and U.N. agencies transporting humanitarian¹⁷ goods through the area.

1 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。

2 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。

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 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。

5 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

6 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。

7 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

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 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。

10 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

11 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

12 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。

13 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 nautical   

adj.海上的，航海的，船员的

参考例句：

• A nautical mile is 1,852 meters.一海里等于1852米。
• It is 206 nautical miles from our present location.距离我们现在的位置有206海里。

15 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。

16 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

17 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。