Somali pirates have hijacked a Greek-owned chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden with a crew of 22 people on board including an unarmed guard, a regional maritime expert said today.
The Marshall Islands-flagged Liquid Velvet was seized yesterday in the Gulf of Aden, said Andrew Mwangura, maritime editor of the Somalia Report.
The 11,599 DWT vessel is owned by Greek firm Elmira Tankers, according to the firm's website.
"It was taken yesterday. It was going from Suez and heading to India. Crew members are 21 Filipinos and one unarmed security guard," Mr Mwangura said.
Increasingly well-armed and violent Somali pirate gangs are expected to ramp up attacks as the monsoon season ends and the seas off the Horn of Africa flatten.
A pirate who gave his name as Khalif told Reuters he had heard of a hijacking but could not confirm details.
"We had alarm calls of a hijacking ... from our frends. They told us they have boarded a tanker ship but we didn't get further details from them," he said from the pirate haven town of Dhanane.
Piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean costs the world economy billions of dollars a year. British prime minister David Cameron has said British merchant ships off the coast of Somalia will soon be allowed to carry armed guards.
Pirates operating from the shores of Somalia have raked in millions of dollars in ransoms from hijacked ships, including oil tankers.
Reuters