Spanish trawlers are using mercenaries to protect them from Somali fishermen for illegally fishing off the coast of Somalia

MADRID — Several Spanish tuna trawlers based in the Seychelles are employing former British soldiers to protect themselves from pirates off the coast of Somalia, daily newspaper El Pais reported on Monday.

The decision was taken following the refusal of the Spanish government to allow soldiers to be placed on the trawlers because Spanish law does not permit the military to be used for protecting private property, it said.

Spanish fleet owners have stepped up their demand for marines to be stationed on board their fishing vessels, as France has done, since Somali pirates seized a Spanish tuna trawler in the Indian Ocean on October 2.

One of the pirates told AFP on Wednesday that they are demanding four million dollars for the release of the ship, the Alakrana, and its 36-member crew.

Many are Gurkhas from Nepal who fought for the British army.

Spanish commercial fishing company Albacora has four former British soldiers armed with machine guns stationed on each of its boats in the region, its president, Ignacio Lechaga, told the newspaper.

"It is expensive but the seizures (of boats by pirates) are even more expensive. It is the only solution. Either we go out protected or we stop fishing," he said.

Source: AFP

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