Pirates hijack UAE tanker off Somalia

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – A dozen heavily armed pirates have hijacked a UAE-registered oil tanker along with 19 Filipino crew members off the coast of Somalia, an international piracy watchdog said.

“Twelve pirates armed with machine guns, AK47 rifles and sidearms boarded the tanker off Mogadishu during daylight,” Noel Choong, head of the Piracy Reporting Centre of the London-based International Maritime Bureau, told AFP.

Choong said the United Arab Emirates oil tanker had earlier discharged its cargo at Mogadishu port and was hit on March 29 after leaving port.

Maritime officials identified the ship as “Lin 1.”

Choong said the pirates are holding the ship off the coast of Somalia and are demanding “a huge sum of money” from the owners for its release.

AFP