By DPA,
Seoul : Somali pirates have been holding a South Korean fishing vessel and its 43 crew for more than a week, after hijacking it off the East African coast, the foreign ministry said Sunday.
The 241-tonne trawler Keummi 305 was attacked by pirates Oct 9 near the Kenyan island of Lamu in the Indian Ocean. An investigation into the incident was under way, the ministry said.
The vessel had been fishing in the area for about a month, South Korea’s national Yonhap news agency reported, quoting South Koreans living in Kenya.
The crew included two South Koreans, two Chinese nationals and 39 Kenyans. One of the South Koreans was the ship’s captain. The whereabouts of the crew was not known and it was not clear whether the pirates were seeking or negotiating a ransom in return for their release.
At the end of September, NGO Ecoterra International in its piracy report said at least two dozen ships and more than 430 seafarers were in the hands of pirates. Among them is a South Korean oil tanker and its 24-member crew seized in April.
Since international war ships have been patrolling the Gulf of Aden, pirates have shifted their operations to Indian Ocean waters.