Pirates seize ship, 15 Indian, crew off Tanzania

Somali pirates captured a Panama-flagged ship with 15 Indian crewmen early today off the Tanzanian coast, a martime watchdog reported.

Nairobi: Somali pirates captured a
Panama-flagged ship with 15 Indian crewmen early Wednesday off the
Tanzanian coast, a martime watchdog reported.

The MT Aspahalt Venture was sailing to South Africa
from the Kenyan port of Mombasa, said Ecoterra International,
an organisation monitoring maritime activity in the region.

Ecoterra said the vessel "is at present observed to
have turned around and obviously is commandeered northwards to
Somalia.

"Information from the ground says a pirate group...
had captured the vessel and is heading towards Harardhere at
the central Somali Indian Ocean coast," the group said in a
statement.

Bureau Report