Pirates seize ship with Lankans

29 November 2010 12:54 pm

Sri Lankans are among the crew of Malaysian-owned cargo vessel, which was hijacked by the Somali pirates on November 26th, the European Union's anti-piracy task force said today.

Pirates have hijacked a Malaysian-owned cargo vessel and its 23-strong crew 900 miles off Somalia, the Reuters said.

 EU Navfor said the MV Albedo was seized in the early hours of November 26 as it headed for the Kenyan port city of Mombasa from Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates. The crew is from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Iran, the task force said in an online statement.

Somali pirates are making tens of millions of dollars in ransoms by hijacking ships, including tankers and dry bulkers, in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, despite the efforts of foreign navies to clamp down on such attacks.