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Somali pirates seize Taiwanese fishing vessel in Indian Ocean

29 March 2012 00:54 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Somali pirates have hijacked a Taiwanese fishing vessel, Naham 3, off the coasts of Indian Ocean island of Seychelles, APA reports quoting Press TV.

â€œNaham 3 reported being under pirates attack while sailing approximately 65 nautical miles off the South-East,â€ said Andrew Mwangura, a Kenyan maritime official.

"The boat has since changed direction to sail toward Somali coast," he added.

The condition and number of the crew onboard the fishing vessel, which was reported missing on Tuesday, is not yet known.

Rampant piracy off the Indian Ocean coast of Somalia has made the waters among the most perilous in the world.

The Gulf of Aden, which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, is the quickest route for more than 20,000 vessels traveling annually between Asia, Europe and the Americas.

However, attacks by heavily armed Somali pirates on speedboats have prompted some of the world’s largest shipping firms to switch routes from the Suez Canal and reroute cargo vessels around southern Africa, causing more shipping costs.

Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former junta ruler Mohamed Siad Barre.

Strategically located in the Horn of Africa, Somalia remains one of the countries generating the highest number of refugees and internally displaced people in the world.