Somali pirates have hijacked a United Arab Emirates-flagged oil tanker in the northern Indian Ocean, the European Union's anti-piracy mission off Somalia said Monday, DPA reported.
The owners of the MV Jubba XX reported that the tanker was captured on Saturday on its regular route from the Emirates to the port of Berbera in Somalia.
EU NAVFOR said there was "no information on the condition of the crew," of 16 comprising five Indians, four Somalis, three Bangladeshis, and one national each from Sri Lanka, Sudan, Myanmar and Kenya.
The mission had received reports of nine suspected Somali pirates on board.
On Sunday the vessel was located by a maritime patrol aircraft north-west of Socotra Island, heading to the northern Somali coast, EU NAVFOR said.
Last week, the London-based International Maritime Bureau reported 266 pirate attacks from January to June, up from 196 cases in the same period last year. Of these, more than 60 per cent were carried out by Somali pirates.