Pirates board Malta-flagged products tanker off Somalia

Maritime security firm Ambrey said on Thursday that a Malta-flagged products tanker had reportedly been boarded by pirates offshore Somalia.

“The pirates were reported to have approached on a skiff and opened fire on the tanker,” Ambrey said in statement, adding that the pirates were operating from a hijacked Iranian-flagged dhow.

The vessel was en route from Sikka, India, to Durban, South Africa, Ambrey said.

In a separate statement, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said unauthorised people had boarded a vessel southeast of Eyl, Somalia.

It was not immediately clear whether Ambrey and the UKMTO were referring to the same incident, but their statements both gave similar distances from Somalia’s coast.

Source:  Reuters