Thursday 11 November 2010

Pirates seize Panama-flagged tanker with 31 crew

Pirates hijacked a Panamanian-flagged chemical tanker carrying 31 crew on Thursday in waters closer to India than to Somalia.

The 24,105-tonne vessel, the Hannnibal II, was attacked and boarded by pirates early Thursday while carrying vegetable oils from the Malaysian port of Pasir Gudang to Suez.

The master of the vessel reported the attack took place "in an area some 860 nautical miles east of The Horn of Africa, which is considerably closer to India than it is to Somalia."

The ship's crew consists of 23 Tunisians, four Filipinos, a Croatian, Georgian, Russian and Moroccan.

Somali pirates are becoming more brazen and keeping ahead of the international naval force seeking to end their high seas marauding, a top UN official said in New York this week.