Somali pirates hijacked a vessel with 15 Indians on board

30.09.2010 Somali pirates captured an Emirati vessel on Wednesday off Tanzania, reports France Presse referring to humanitarian organization Ecoterra International specialized in monitoring over pirates' activities in the Indian Ocean.

"Panamanian-flagged vessel Aspahalt Venture sailing from Kenyan port Mombasa to Durban (Republic of South Africa) was captured near Tanzanian coast at 4 am, local time", said the Ecoterra's release.

Being hijacked, Aspahalt Venture with 15 Indian crewmen on board changed the course and presently sails towards Somali coast. According to Ecoterra, the capture was carried out by pirate group from Harardhere which is one of the main pirates' dens.

It was reported early on Wednesday that on Sept 28 Italian warship Libeccio in co-operation with a French patrol helicopter had repelled pirate attack upon chemical tanker Mississippi Star; the incident also occurred in Tanzanian waters.

According to International Maritime Bureau (IMB), number of pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden has been significantly reduced in the first half-year of 2010 because of numerous warships deployed in the region. However, pirates began to sail far to the Indian Ocean in search of loot.