Pirates seized a cargo ship on Monday with 24 crewmembers from the port of Aden. The vessel, Iceberg 1, was boarded just 10 miles from Aden, and was being taken toward the Somali coast, confirmed the Ecoterra maritime agency in Kenya.
Crewmembers of the ship, which flies the flag of Panama, are from Ghana, Pakistan, India, Sudan and Yemen, according to the East Africa Seafarers Assistance Program, headquartered in Kenya.
A spokesman in Mogadishu, Somalia, said that seven other ships had been seized in the Indian Ocean over the weekend.
“The ship was at a distance of 198 nautical miles which means it was in international water. The pirates told Civil Control about the hijacking,†said Brigadier General Lutf Abdullah al-Barati, the Director of Coast Guard in Aden.
Upon being questioned regarding the identity of the ship and its cargo, he replied that he had no further information at this time.
Source: News agencies
