"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.
The Indian oil tanker, Al Kaushar, had 11 crew members on board and was on its way to Al Mukala port in Yemen from Dubai.
It was hijacked on Saturday April 01,2017.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, CEO of Dryad Maritime, a shipping security firm
The hijacking has rattled the shipping industry, raising questions whether the lucrative business of Somali maritime piracy has returned after a lull of about five years.
2010 was the high point in Somali piracy. Soon after that, shipping companies began placing armed guards onboard who would "show weapons" to circling pirates and if needed fire warning shots to scare them off.
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