REUTERS/Abdiqani Hassan

BOSASSO, Somalia (Reuters) - Pirates have hijacked an Indian commercial ship off the coast of Somalia, the second attack in weeks after years of inactivity by pirates, industry and security sources said on Monday. "We understand Somali pirates hijacked a commercial Indian ship and (it is heading) towards Somalia shores," Abdirizak Mohamed Dirir, a former director of the anti-piracy agency in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region, said according to Reuters. Last month, Somali pirates hijacked an oil tanker, the first commandeering of a vessel since 2012 (File Photo)

Mumbai: A cargo ship with 11 Indian crew members on board has been hijacked by pirates off the Somalian coast, officials from the Directorate General of Shipping said on Monday. Somalis have been angered recently by foreign fishermen flooding into their waters, some of whom have been given licences to operate there by the Somali government. The attack on the small ship happened Saturday as the vessel passed through the narrow channel between Yemen's Socotra island and the Somali coast, said Graeme Gibbon Brooks, the CEO of the maritime firm Dryad Maritime. Pirates have seized a small boat and kidnapped its 11 Indian crew members off the coast of Somalia, an investigator said Monday, the latest vessel targeted by the region's resurgent hijackers.
Somali pirates hijack an Indian cargo ship off the coast of Puntland.