(Adnkronos) – A Maltese-flagged oil tanker has reportedly been hijacked by suspected pirates off the coast of Somalia. Maritime security firm Vanguard – the BBC reports – stated that the ‘Hellas Aphrodite’ was attacked by people on board an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel. Another security company, Ambrey Intelligence, said the tanker was boarded about a thousand kilometers off the Somali coast.
Vanguard specified that the fishing vessel, registered as “314055IssaMohahmdi”, has been involved in three other recent incidents, while the UK Maritime Trade Operations (Ukmto) agency confirmed that an “illegal boarding” occurred in the area, with a vessel attacked with “small arms and rocket launchers”, without adding further details.
According to the vessel tracking website MarineTraffic, the ship is traveling from Sikka, India, to the South African port of Durban. Its last position was recorded this morning, several hundred kilometers east of Somalia.
