Incidents off the coast of Somalia rose to 47 during the first nine months of 2009 from 12, IMB says

Nato's anti-piracy mission, which has warships patrolling the seas off the coast of Somalia, confirmed that the vessel has been seized by pirates on Thursday.

A spokeswoman for Nato's anti-piracy mission in London, UK, said: "The MV Al Khaliq, a Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier, has been hijacked early this morning off Somalia."

"There were 26 crew on board, 24 of whom are Indian and two Burmese."

Nato's closest ship to the Al Khaliq was eight hours away when the ship was seized.

It now joins six other commercial carriers being held by pirates.

Earlier this week a Chinese cargo ship with 25 crew was taken, with the pirates threatened to kill their hostages if China attempted a rescue operation.

A second carrier, the 32,000-tonne Italian vessel Jolly Rosso, also came under attack in the waters north of the Seychelles on Thursday, but it managed to escape.

Rise in piracy

Incidents off the coast of Somalia rose to 47 during the first nine months of 2009 from 12 in the same period a year ago, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) had said on Wednesday.

In the Gulf of Aden there were 100 attacks compared to 51.

Since last year, a fleet of foreign warships has been patrolling the Gulf of Aden, one of the busiest maritime trade routes in the world.

The Kuala Lumpur-based watchdog said that globally, 114 vessels had been boarded and 34 hijacked during the first nine months of 2009.

A total of 661 crew members have been taken hostage, with six killed and eight still missing.

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