Somali pirates hijacked a Panama-flagged cargo ship and its 24-strong crew in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, the European Union’s anti-piracy taskforce said.
EU NAVFOR said a US warship had seen at least one person with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher on board the MV QSM Dubai.
It said the crew were from Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Ghana.
The 15,220 deadweight tonne vessel was seized inside the internationally recommended transit corridor and had come from Brazil.
It was not immediately clear what the MV QSM Dubai was carrying.
The pirates from the lawless horn of Africa nation continue to outwit an international flotilla of warships patrolling the Gulf of Aden that links Europe with Africa and Asia.
The Somali pirates have raked in tens of millions of dollars in ransoms.
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Odour forces flight delay for 6 hours
San Francisco : A Chicago-bound flight was evacuated and delayed six hours after a crew member smelled a strange odour co-ming from a carry-on bag, San Francisco International airport officials have said.
Officials said the United Airlines flight was taxing to the runway on Tuesday morning when a flight attendant noticed a “pungent chemical odour” emanating from a bag that contained Chinese herbs.
The passengers were taken off the plane and re-screened, while dogs and hazardous materials and explosive teams searched the aircraft. Investigators did not find anything suspicious on the plane and determined the strange smell came from the Chinese herbs, which were owned by a couple. —AP