Somali pirates seized control of a German-owned merchant vessel Beluga Fortune in the Indian Ocean, the second hijacking in the region in as many days, a regional maritime official said.
‘The Beluga Fortune was taken today in the Somali basin. We don't know yet exactly where she was hijacked or where she was heading to,’ Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme told Reuters.
The Beluga Fortune is owned by the Bremen-based Beluga Shipping. Mr Mwangura said the vessel was likely flying a flag of convenience.
It was not immediately clear how many crew were aboard at the time the ship was commandeered by pirates, nor what it was carrying.
Earlier, it was reported that pirates had grabbed a Singapore-flagged liquefied petroleum gas tanker 80km off the coast of east Africa.
Mr Mwangura said the pirates seized the Greek-managed MV York off Kenya yesterday, less than 12 hours after it sailed from the Kenyan port of Mombasa.
The European naval force, EU Navfor, said the vessel had a crew of 17, including a German master, two Ukrainians and 14 Filipinos.
Somali pirates are holding 20 vessels with more than 430 hostages, according to EU Navfor. Typically they earn a ransom for their release.
