2 more ships seized in the Gulf of Aden

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 29 (UPI) -- Kenyan maritime authorities Thursday said two cargo ships have been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden in the same area another ship was seized Sunday.

Andrew Mwangura of the Kenyan Seafarers Association told CNN the MV Lehmann and MV Arean were hijacked Wednesday near where the MV Amiya Scan was commandeered en route to Romania off the coast of Somalia.

The latest hijackings in the Gulf of Aden bring to 26 the number that have occurred so far this year. Seven have been resolved with ransom payments, the International Maritime Bureau reports.

Officials of Somalia's semiautonomous Puntland area say they do not have the money to combat piracy on their own. A resolution before the United Nations would allow other countries to pursue Somali pirates into Somalia's waters to make arrests.