Thaindian News

BRUSSELS (BNO NEWS) — Somali pirates on Friday afternoon hijacked a U.S.-operated, Liberian flagged container ship in the far south of the Somali basin, the European Union Naval Force - Somalia said.

EU Naval Force spokesman Per Klingvall said the MV Panama was hijacked by two armed skiffs carrying five pirates about 80 miles (128 kilometers) east of the Tanzanian-Mozambique border. He said a rocket-propelled grenade was used in the attach.

“This extreme Southerly attack in the Somali Basin is a further example of the constantly expanding area of pirate activity,” said Klingvall, adding that the vessel was en-route from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to Beira in Mozambique.

The MV Panama is a Liberian-flagged container ship which is being operated by a U.S.-based company, according to the EU Naval Force, without naming the company involved. The vessel has a crew of 23, all who are from Myanmar (Burma).

Currently, Somali pirates are holding at least 35 ships with a total of more than 650 hostages, according to ECOTERRA International, which keeps a record of pirating incidents. Most hijackings usually end without casualties when a ransom has been paid. This, however, often takes many months.

In recent years, Somali pirates have hijacked dozens of ships, taking in tens of millions of dollars in ransom. European Union ships are patrolling the shipping lanes near Somalia in an effort to reduce hijackings, but the anti-piracy force has warned that attacks are likely to increase now that the regional monsoon season has ended.