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Somalia Piracy Hampers Food Aid: UN

Danger of hijacking has raised costs dramatically, WFP official says

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 9, 2009 2:22 PM CDT

(Newser) – Piracy off the coast of Somalia is making relief organizations' work even more difficult, Reuters reports. The UN’s World Food Program  today decried both the hijacking of ships bearing aid supplies—the Maersk Alabama, for example, had 232 WFP containers on board when it was seized this week—and indirect costs, like higher insurance rates and the growing unwillingness of some shipping companies to make the trip.

As a result, it now costs millions of dollars more than it did last year to feed the same number of people, said a WFP rep. "If we have piracy off Somalia making it difficult to deliver food, we will have to cut rations and people will miss distributions and people will go hungry," he warned.

Workers rest during a lunch break at the U.N. World Food Program warehouse in Mombasa, Kenya on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008.
Workers rest during a lunch break at the U.N. World Food Program warehouse in Mombasa, Kenya on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008.   (AP Photo/Tom Maliti)
A worker takes a lunch break while sitting amongst the stack of food aid, at the U.N. World Food Program warehouse in Mombasa, Kenya, on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008.
A worker takes a lunch break while sitting amongst the stack of food aid, at the U.N. World Food Program warehouse in Mombasa, Kenya, on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008.   (AP Photo/Tom Maliti)
A speed boat of Dutch special forces, right, guards the MV Ibn Batouta anchored outside the port of Mogadishu, Somalia on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008.
A speed boat of Dutch special forces, right, guards the MV Ibn Batouta anchored outside the port of Mogadishu, Somalia on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008.   (AP Photo/Tom Maliti)
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