Tanker seized.

Singapore tanker seized by suspected pirates off east Africa coast

Topic: Sea piracy in the modern world

Somali pirates

© AFP/ EU NAVFOR

11:28 01/05/2011

A Singapore tanker with a 25-member crew has been seized by suspected pirates off the east coast of Africa, The Straits Times reported on Sunday, referring to the Singapore authorities.

The MT Gemini chemical tanker sent a distress signal at 11:50 a.m. Singapore time on Saturday, the paper said, quoting a press statement from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

The tanker, on its way from Kuala Tanjung in Indonesia to Mombasa in Kenya, was boarded by pirates at approximately 120 nautical miles from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

The 25-member crew includes 13 Indonesians, four Chinese, four South Koreans and three Myanmar nationals.

Piracy has surged off the Horn of Africa in recent years, especially off the east African nation of Somalia, which has had no functioning central government for two decades.

MOSCOW, May 1 (RIA Novosti)

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